Parabolic approximations of diffusive–dispersive equations

We consider a lower-order approximation for a third-order diffusive–dispersive conservation law with nonlinear flux. It consists of a system of two second-order parabolic equations; a coupling parameter is also added. If the flux has an inflection point it is well-known, on the one hand, that the diffusive–dispersive law admits traveling-wave solutions whose end states are also connected by undercompressive shock waves of the underlying hyperbolic conservation law. On the other hand, if the diffusive–dispersive regularization vanishes, the solutions of the corresponding initial-value problem converge to a weak solution of the hyperbolic conservation law. We show that both of these properties also hold for the lower-order approximation. Furthermore, when the coupling parameter tends to infinity, we prove that solutions of initial value problems for the approximation converge to a weak solution of the diffusive–dispersive law. The proofs rely on new a priori energy estimates for higher-order derivatives and the technique of compensated compactness.