Gradient blow-up for dispersive and dissipative perturbations of the Burgers equation

Abstract: We consider a class of dispersive and dissipative perturbations of the inviscid Burgers equation, which includes the fractional KdV equation of order $\alpha$, and the fractal Burgers equation of order $\beta$, where $\alpha, \beta \in [0,1)$, and the Whitham equation. For all $\alpha, \beta \in [0,1)$, we construct solutions whose gradient blows up at a point, and whose amplitude stays bounded, which therefore display a "shock-like" singularity. We moreover provide an asymptotic description of the blow-up. To our knowledge, this constitutes the first proof of gradient blow-up for the fKdV equation in the range $\alpha \in [2/3, 1)$, as well as the first description of explicit blow-up dynamics for the fractal Burgers equation in the range $\beta \in [2/3, 1)$. Our construction is based on modulation theory, where the well-known smooth self-similar solutions to the inviscid Burgers equation are used as profiles. A somewhat amusing point is that the profiles that are less stable under initial data perturbations (in that the number of unstable directions is larger) are more stable under perturbations of the equation (in that higher order dispersive and/or dissipative terms are allowed) due to their slower rates of concentration. Another innovation of this article, which may be of independent interest, is the development of a streamlined weighted $L^{2}$-based approach (in lieu of the characteristic method) for establishing the sharp spatial behavior of the solution in self-similar variables, which leads to the sharp H\"older regularity of the solution up to the blow-up time.