 Solution

SetThe scalar conservation law is $u_t+a(t)f^{\prime }(u)u_x=0$. Its characteristic curve issuing from $\xi$ satisfiesThe Jacobian of the one-dimensional characteristic map isBefore characteristic crossing, differentiation with respect to $\xi$ givesBecause $u_0$ has compact support, $m$ is continuous and vanishes outside a compact set. It therefore attains its minimumby the hypothesis. Since $a(t)>\epsilon$, the function $A$ is strictly increasing and tends to infinity. There is consequently a unique first time $T_{\ast }>0$ satisfyingAt a minimizer of $m$, the numerator $u_0^{\prime }$ is nonzero because $f^{\prime \prime }$ is nonzero, while the denominator tends to zero as $t\uparrow T_{\ast }$. Hence the classical solution has gradient blow-up: