Cauchy Problem for Differential Operators with Double Characteristics

A doubly characteristic point of a differential operator P of order m (i.e. one where Pm = dPm = 0) is effectively hyperbolic if the Hamilton map FPm has real non-zero eigen values. When the characteristics are at most double and every double characteristic is effectively hyperbolic, the Cauchy problem for P can be solved for arbitrary lower order terms.

If there is a non-effectively hyperbolic characteristic, solvability requires the subprincipal symbol of P to lie between −Pµj and Pµj, where iµj are the positive imaginary eigenvalues of FPm . Moreover, if 0 is an eigenvalue of FPm with corresponding 4 × 4 Jordan block, the spectral structure of FPm is insufficient to determine whether the Cauchy problem is well-posed and the behavior of bicharacteristics near the doubly characteristic manifold plays a crucial role.