Well-posedness for the Euler-nordström System with Cosmological Constant

In this paper the author considers the motion of a relativistic perfect fluid with self-interaction mediated by Nordström’s scalar theory of gravity. The evolution of the fluid is determined by a quasilinear hyperbolic system of PDEs, and a cosmological constant is introduced in order to ensure the existence of non-zero constant solutions. Accordingly, the initial value problem for a compact perturbation of an infinitely extended quiet fluid is studied. Although the system is neither symmetric hyperbolic nor strictly hyperbolic, Christodoulou’s constructive results on the existence of energy currents for equations derivable from a Lagrangian can be adapted to provide energy currents that can be used in place of the standard energy principle available for first-order symmetric hyperbolic systems. After providing such energy currents, the author uses them to prove that the Euler-Nordström system with a cosmological constant is well-posed in a suitable Sobolev space.