Global asymptotics toward the rarefaction waves for solutions to the Cauchy problem of the scalar conservation law with nonlinear viscosity

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the asymptotic behavior of solutions to the Cauchy problem for the scalar viscous conservation law where the far field states are prescribed. Especially, we deal with the case when the viscosity is of non-Newtonian type, including a pseudo-plastic case. When the corresponding Riemann problem for the hyperbolic part admits a Riemann solution which consists of single rarefaction wave, under a condition on nonlinearity of the viscosity, it is proved that the solution of the Cauchy problem tends toward the rarefaction wave as time goes to infinity, without any smallness conditions.