Study of a model equation in detonation theory

Here we analyze properties of an equation that we previously proposed to model the dynamics of unstable detonation waves [A. R. Kasimov, L. M. Faria, and R. R. Rosales. Model for shock wave chaos. Physical Review Letters, 110(10):104104, 2013]. The equation is $$u_t+\frac{1}{2}{(u^2-uu(0_{-},t))}_x=f(x,u(0_{-},t)),x\le 0,t>0.$$ It describes a detonation shock at $x=0$ with the reaction zone in $x<0$. We investigate the nature of the steady-state solutions of this nonlocal hyperbolic balance law, the linear stability of these solutions, and the nonlinear dynamics. We establish the existence of instability followed by a cascade of period-doubling bifurcations leading to chaos.