Shock formation in the dispersionless Kadomtsev-Petviashvili equation

The dispersionless Kadomtsev-Petviashvili (dKP) equation $(u_t+uu_x)_x=u_{yy}$ is one of the simplest nonlinear wave equations describing two-dimensional shocks. To solve the dKP equation we use a coordinate transformation inspired by the method of characteristics for the one-dimensional Hopf equation $u_t+uu_x=0$. We show numerically that the solutions to the transformed equation do not develop shocks. This permits us to extend the dKP solution as the graph of a multivalued function beyond the critical time when the gradients blow up. This overturned solution is multivalued in a lip shape region in the $(x,y)$ plane, where the solution of the dKP equation exists in a weak sense only, and a…