Convergence in the form of a solution to the Cauchy problem for a quasilinear parabolic equation with a monotone initial condition to a system of waves

The time asymptotic behavior of a solution to the initial Cauchy problem for a quasilinear parabolic equation is investigated. Such equations arise, for example, in traffic flow modeling. The main result of this paper is the proof of the previously formulated conjecture that, if a monotone initial function has limits at plus and minus infinity, then the solution to the Cauchy problem converges in form to a system of traveling and rarefaction waves; furthermore, the phase shifts of the traveling waves may depend on time. It is pointed out that the monotonicity condition can be replaced with the boundedness condition.