On a supersonic-sonic patch arising from the two-dimensional Riemann problem of the compressible Euler equations

Abstract

We are interested in the two-dimensional four-constant Riemann problem to the isentropic compressible Euler equations. In terms of the self-similar variables, the governing system is of nonlinear mixed-type and the solution configuration typically contains transonic and small-scale structures. We construct a supersonic-sonic patch along a pseudo-streamline from the supersonic part to a sonic point. This kind of patch appears frequently in the two-dimensional Riemann problem and is a building block for constructing a global solution. To overcome the difficulty caused by the sonic degeneracy, we apply the characteristic decomposition technique to handle the problem in a partial hodograph plane. We establish a regular supersonic solution for the original problem by showing the global one-to-one property of the partial hodograph transformation. The uniform regularity of the solution and the regularity of an associated sonic curve are also discussed.