Positively invariant regions for a problem in phase transitions

Positively invariant regions for the system v _t + p(W) _x = V _xx , W _t –V _x = W _xx are constructed where p < 0, w < , w > , p(w) = 0, w , > 0. Such a choice of p is motivated by the Maxwell construction for a van der Waals fluid. The method of an analysis is a modification of earlier ideas of Chueh, Conley, & Smoller 1]. The results given here provide independent L bounds on the solution (w, v).Dedicated to Professor James Serrin on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday