On , the transformed variables satisfy and . Differentiating the displacement data tangentially and using gives
Hence on , on , and the additive constants have sum . The uniquely determined solution is therefore
It is fixed by the data exactly where both needed characteristic arguments belong to their known intervals:
Equivalently, in the plane this is the diamond . In the original coordinates it is bounded by four curved characteristic curves. It lies wholly in . The displayed formula supplies one smooth extension beyond the diamond too, but the specified finite data segment does not determine that extension: one may change or outside its known argument interval. This is the characteristic-coordinate domain of dependence.
Figure 1.
The finite Cauchy-data segment determines a characteristic diamond in transformed coordinates
. The left panel shows its curved image in the original quadrant; the right panel shows the straight-sided diamond after the change of variables. Shading includes both forward and backward determination from the data segment. Details.