Global existence of classical solutions to the Cauchy problem on a semi-bounded initial axis for a nonhomogeneous quasilinear hyperbolic system

It is proven that if the leftmost eigenvalue is weakly linearly degenerate, then the Cauchy problem for a class of nonhomogeneous quasilinear hyperbolic systems with small and decaying initial data given on a semi-bounded axis admits a unique global C1 solution on the domain {(t, x) | t 0, x xn(t)}, where x = xn(t) is the fastest forward characteristic emanating from the origin. As an application of our result, we prove the existence of global classical, C1 solutions of the flow equations of a model class of fluids with viscosity induced by fading memory with small smooth initial data given on a semi-bounded axis. © 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.