Advances and Challenges in Hyperbolic Conservation Laws

In the field of hyperbolic conservation laws, theory, computation, and applications are deeply connected, with each one providing to the other two technical support as well as insights. Major progress has been achieved, over the past 40 years, on the theory and computation of solutions in one space dimension. By contrast, the multi-space dimensional case is still covered by mist, which is now gradually lifting, revealing new vistas. For instance, in two space dimensions, significant progress has been achieved in the study of transonic gas flow, of central importance to aerodynamics. Parallel progress has been reported on the numerical side, with the design of high-order accurate discontinuous Galerkin and finite volume computational schemes, even for multidimensional systems. Finally, we are witnessing an explosion in the applications, not only on the traditional turf of fluid dynamics but also in new directions, in materials science, biology, traffic theory, etc.