Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 5 1 3 e Solution 2026-10-06
Because is a decreasing bijection, its inverse exists and is continuous. For any , choose in the preceding inequality. The line from then reaches , giving .
Now let and . On this characteristic curve, , so the tangent-line inequality is an equality throughout. This proves attainment andIn fact the maximizing foot is unique. The concave Legendre dual can be written and satisfies : compare the minimizing values at and and use continuity of . This avoids assuming differentiability of , which strict concavity by itself does not guarantee. Differentiating the maximizing expression with respect to gives , hence and . The maximum representation for a concave conservation law therefore reproduces the characteristic solution of a scalar conservation law throughout the smooth lifespan.
Under the inverse-flux quadratic bounds, smooth compactly supported data in a scalar conservation law satisfyAt the maximizing foot , the maximum representation for a concave conservation law bounds below by and above by . This bounds the deviation of the characteristic speed from ; the linear inverse-flux bound then controls . The time interval ends at the first characteristic crossing.