Propagating Fronts for a Viscous Hamer-Type system

Abstract: Motivated by radiation hydrodynamics, we analyse a 2x2 system consisting of a one-dimensional viscous conservation law with strictly convex flux -- the viscous Burgers' equation being a paradigmatic example -- coupled with an elliptic equation, named viscous Hamer-type system. In the regime of small viscosity and for large shocks, namely when the profile of the corresponding underlying inviscid model undergoes a discontinuity -- usually called sub-shock -- it is proved the existence of a smooth propagating front, regularising the jump of the corresponding inviscid equation. The proof is based on Geometric Singular Perturbation Theory (GSPT) as introduced in the pioneering work of Fenichel [5] and subsequently developed by Szmolyan [19]. In addition, the case of small shocks and large viscosity is also addressed via a standard bifurcation argument.