Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2009/ii/paper-2/31b/b/solution

The exterior characteristics give for and for . In the gap put and . The Inviscid Burgers equation becomes . Matching the increasing states selects the rarefaction wave , so
It is continuous and piecewise smooth at positive times and satisfies the entropy condition. A discontinuous shock joining the same increasing states would be nonentropic.

New to topics? Read the docs here!