Well-posedness of hyperbolic systems with multiplicities and smooth coefficients

We study hyperbolic systems with multiplicities and smooth coefficients. In the case of non-analytic, smooth coefficients, we prove well-posedness in any Gevrey class and when the coefficients are analytic, we prove C∞C∞ well-posedness. The proof is based on a transformation to block Sylvester form introduced by D’Ancona and Spagnolo (Boll UMI 8(1B):169–185, 1998) which increases the system size but does not change the eigenvalues. This reduction introduces lower order terms for which appropriate Levi-type conditions are found. These translate then into conditions on the original coefficient matrix. This paper can be considered as a generalisation of Garetto and Ruzhansky (Math Ann 357(2):401–440, 2013), where weakly hyperbolic higher order equations with lower order terms were considered.