In this paper we study the asymptotic nonlinear stability of discrete shocks for the Lax-Friedrichs scheme for approximating general m×m systems of nonlinear hyperbolic conservation laws. It is shown that weak single discrete shocks for such a scheme are nonlinearly stable in the Lp-norm for all p ≧ 1, provided that the sums of the initial perturbations equal zero. These results should shed light on the convergence of the numerical solution constructed by the Lax-Friedrichs scheme for the single-shock solution of system of hyperbolic conservation laws. If the Riemann solution corresponding to the given far-field states is a superposition of m single shocks from each characteristic family, we show that the corresponding multiple discrete shocks are nonlinearly stable in Lp (P ≧ 2). These results are proved by using both a weighted estimate and a characteristic energy method based on the internal structures of the discrete shocks and the essential monotonicity of the Lax-Friedrichs scheme.

We prove the convergence of vortex blob methods to classical weak solutions for the twodimensional incompressible Euler equations with initial data satisfying the conditions that the vorticity is a finite Radon measure of distinguished sign and the kinetic energy is locally bounded. This includes the important example of vortex sheets. The result is valid as long as the computational grid size h does not exceed the smoothing blob size E, i.e., h/~ 5 C. 0 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

The development of shocks in nonlinear hyperbolic conservation laws may be regularized through either diffusion or relaxation. However, we have observed surprisingly that for some physical problems, when both of the smoothing factors - diffusion and relaxation - coexist, under appropriate asymptotic assumptions, the dispersive waves are enhanced. This phenomenon is studied asymptotically in the sense of the Chapman-Enskog expansion and demonstrated numerically.

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We study the oscillatory behavior that arises in solutions of a dispersive numerical scheme for the Hopf equation whenever the classical solution of the equation develops a singularity. Modulation equations are derived that describe period-two oscillations so long as the solution of those equations takes values for which the equations are hyperbolic. However, those equations have an elliptic region that may be entered by its solutions in a finite time, after which the corresponding period-two oscillations are seen to break down. This kind of phenomenon has not been observed for integrable schemes. The generation and propagation of period-two oscillations are asymptotically analyzed and a matching formula is found for the transition between oscillatory and nonoscillatory regions. Modulation equations are also presented for period-three oscillations. Numerical experiments are carried out that illustrate our analysis.