This dissertation deals with a class of nonlinear wave equations of the type discovered by R. Camassa and D. D. Holm which includes the Camassa-Holm, the Degasperis-Procesi, and the two component Camassa-Holm equations. All these equations admit certain non-smooth soliton-like solutions, called peakons as well as other non-smooth solutions like cuspons. We apply the techniques of the theory of distributions of L. Schwartz to study these solutions. In particular, every non-smooth traveling wave which is a distributional solution of the two component Camassa-Holm equation is a distributional solution of the Camassa-Holm equation if the set of points where the height of the wave equals its speed, is of measure zero. This includes peakon or cuspon traveling wave solutions.<p>We also develop a suitable modification of the classical Lax pair formalism to deal with singular solutions. We show that the Lax pair formalism can be extended to a distributional weak Lax pair which is appropriate for dealing with the peakon solutions of the Camassa-Holm equation.

This dissertation deals with a class of nonlinear wave equations of the type discovered by R. Camassa and D. D. Holm which includes the Camassa-Holm, the Degasperis-Procesi, and the two component Camassa-Holm equations. All these equations admit certain non-smooth soliton-like solutions, called peakons as well as other non-smooth solutions like cuspons. We apply the techniques of the theory of distributions of L. Schwartz to study these solutions. In particular, every non-smooth traveling wave which is a distributional solution of the two component Camassa-Holm equation is a distributional solution of the Camassa-Holm equation if the set of points where the height of the wave equals its speed, is of measure zero. This includes peakon or cuspon traveling wave solutions.<p>We also develop a suitable modification of the classical Lax pair formalism to deal with singular solutions. We show that the Lax pair formalism can be extended to a distributional weak Lax pair which is appropriate for dealing with the peakon solutions of the Camassa-Holm equation.