Theory of shifts, shocks, and the intimate connections to $L^2$-type a posteriori error analysis of numerical schemes for hyperbolic problems

In this paper, we develop a posteriori error estimates for numerical approximations of scalar hyperbolic conservation laws in one space dimension. We develop novel quantitative partially $L^2$-type estimates by using the theory of shifts, and in particular, the framework for proving stability first developed in [Krupa-Vasseur. On uniqueness of solutions to conservation laws verifying a single entropy condition. J. Hyperbolic Differ. Equ., 2019]. In this paper, we solve two of the major obstacles to using the theory of shifts for quantitative estimates, including the change-of-variables problem and the loss of control on small shocks. Our methods have no inherit small-data limitations. Thus, our hope is to apply our techniques to the systems case to understand the numerical stability of large data. There is hope for our results to generalize to systems: the stability framework [Krupa-Vasseur. On uniqueness of solutions to conservation laws verifying a single entropy condition. J. Hyperbolic Differ. Equ., 2019] itself has been generalized to systems [Chen-Krupa-Vasseur. Uniqueness and weak-BV stability for $2\times 2$ conservation laws. Arch. Ration. Mech. Anal., 246(1):299--332, 2022]. Moreover, we are careful not to appeal to the Kruzhkov theory for scalar conservation laws. Instead, we work entirely within the context of the theory of shifts and $a$-contraction -- and these theories apply equally to systems. We present a MATLAB numerical implementation and numerical experiments. We also provide a brief introduction to the theory of shifts and $a$-contraction.