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Space-time localized nonuniqueness for the inhomogeneous Navier-Stokes equations

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Abstract

We prove space-time localized nonuniqueness for the inhomogeneous incompressible Navier–Stokes equations on the three-dimensional torus. For every 0<s<3/20<s<3/2 and p>1p>1 sufficiently close to one, we construct weak solutions with strictly positive density in CtLpC_tL^p and velocity in CtHsC_tH^s. These solutions approximate prescribed smooth density and velocity fields satisfying the necessary mass and spatial first moment conditions, while agreeing with a given smooth solution outside a compact subset of a prescribed cylinder. In particular, there are infinitely many nontrivial solutions which coincide with the rest state outside that cylinder and whose density is not renormalized. The proof uses convex integration with concentrated density profiles transported exactly by the perturbed velocity. Nonnegative coefficients cancel the continuity defect and the stress simultaneously. A stationary density corrector preserves positivity through successive corrections, and compactly supported inverse divergence operators preserve spatial localization.

Introduction

The inhomogeneous incompressible Navier–Stokes equations describe a viscous fluid whose density is transported by the flow. For densities that are bounded and bounded away from zero the Cauchy problem is well understood. Weak solutions with finite energy exist [29, 39, 33], strong solutions are unique and exist globally under smallness or two-dimensionality assumptions [31, 20, 13, 1, 14, 38, 32, 15], and Hao, Shao, Wei and Zhang [25] recently proved uniqueness of Lions’ weak solutions in the two-dimensional whole space with L2L^2 initial velocity, together with global well-posedness in three dimensions for bounded initial density and small initial velocity in H˙1/2(R3)\dot{H}^{1/2}(\mathbb{R}^3). All these results take place in a class of solutions with bounded density and finite energy.

The question addressed here is how much of this uniqueness survives when the density is only integrable to a power close to one and the equations are imposed in the sense of distributions. We show that in this regime uniqueness fails completely. For every 0<s<3/20 < s < 3/2 there are infinitely many weak solutions with strictly positive density in CtLpC_tL^p, p>1p > 1 close to one, and velocity in CtHsC_tH^s, all emanating from the same smooth initial data. Neither the positivity of the density nor the viscosity obstructs the construction. Moreover, the entire perturbation can be confined to an arbitrary space–time cylinder: outside a compact subset of that cylinder the density, velocity and pressure coincide with a given smooth solution.

The two regimes leave a gap. Uniqueness is known for bounded densities in the energy class, and nonuniqueness is shown here for densities in LpL^p with pp close to one and without an energy inequality. Whether uniqueness persists for densities in LqL^q with large qq, or for weak solutions satisfying the energy inequality, remains open. For the homogeneous equations, nonuniqueness below the energy class is known from [7, 10, 11], and within the Leray class it is known in the presence of a forcing term [2]; here the mechanism is the density rather than a force.

We consider the equations on T3=R3/Z3\mathbb{T}^3 = \mathbb{R}^3/\mathbb{Z}^3,

{∂tρ+div⁡(ρu)=0,∂t(ρu)+div⁡(ρu⊗u)+∇Π−Δu=0,div⁡u=0.(1)\begin{cases} \partial_t \rho+ \operatorname{div}(\rho u) = 0,\\ \partial_t(\rho u) + \operatorname{div}(\rho u \otimes u) + \nabla\Pi- \Delta u = 0,\\ \operatorname{div} u = 0. \tag*{(1)} \end{cases}

Here ρ\rho is a scalar density, uu an R3\mathbb{R}^3-valued velocity, and Π\Pi a scalar pressure; the viscosity is normalized to one. We use the following notion of weak solution, which does not impose an energy inequality.

Definition 1.1 (Weak solutions). Let 0<s<3/20 < s < 3/2 and 1<p<∞1 < p < \infty. A weak solution of (1.1) consists of a density, velocity and pressure satisfying

ρ∈CtLp,u∈CtHs,Π∈D′((0,1)×T3),\rho\in C_tL^p,\qquad u \in C_tH^s,\qquad\Pi\in\mathcal{D}'((0,1) \times\mathbb{T}^3),

with ρ≥ρ‾\rho\geq\underline{\rho} almost everywhere for some constant ρ‾>0\underline{\rho} > 0, and

ρu∈CtL1,ρu⊗u∈CtL1,\rho u \in C_tL^1,\qquad\rho u \otimes u \in C_tL^1,

such that (1.1) holds in the sense of distributions on (0,1)×T3(0,1) \times\mathbb{T}^3.

Main results

Our first result approximates prescribed smooth density and velocity fields inside an arbitrary cylinder.

Throughout, B=B(x0,rB)⊂T3B = B(x_0,r_B) \subset\mathbb{T}^3 denotes an open ball of radius rB<1/4r_B < 1/4. We identify BB with a Euclidean ball, so that moments such as ∫B(x−x0)f dx\int_B (x-x_0)f\,\mathrm{d}x of functions supported in BB are well defined.

Theorem 1.1 (Localized approximation). For every 0<s<3/20 < s < 3/2, there is p∗(s)>1p_*(s) > 1 such that the following holds for 1<p<p∗(s)1 < p < p_*(s). Fix a cylinder Q⋐(0,1)×T3Q \Subset(0,1) \times\mathbb{T}^3 with spatial base BB, a ball of radius less than 1/41/4.

Let (ρˉ,uˉ,Πˉ)(\bar{\rho},\bar{u},\bar{\Pi}) be a smooth solution of (1.1) and (ρ∗,u∗)(\rho_*,u_*) a smooth pair on [0,1]×T3[0,1] \times\mathbb{T}^3, with ρˉ,ρ∗>0\bar{\rho},\rho_* > 0 and div⁡u∗=0\operatorname{div}u_* = 0. Assume

supp⁡(ρ∗−ρˉ,u∗−uˉ)⋐Q,\operatorname{supp}(\rho_*-\bar{\rho},u_*-\bar{u}) \Subset Q,
∫B(ρ∗−ρˉ)(t,x) dx=0,∫B(x−x0)(ρ∗−ρˉ)(t,x) dx=0(0≤t≤1).(2)\int_B(\rho_*-\bar{\rho})(t,x)\,\mathrm{d}x=0,\qquad \int_B(x-x_0)(\rho_*-\bar{\rho})(t,x)\,\mathrm{d}x=0\qquad(0\leq t\leq1). \tag*{(2)}

Then, for every δ>0\delta> 0, there is a weak solution (ρ,u,Π)(\rho,u,\Pi), with Π∈Lt,x1\Pi\in L^1_{t,x}, satisfying

∥ρ−ρ∗∥CtLp+∥u−u∗∥CtHs<δ,ρ≥ρ∗−δalmost everywhere.\|\rho-\rho_*\|_{C_tL^p}+\|u-u_*\|_{C_tH^s}<\delta,\qquad \rho\geq\rho_*-\delta\quad\text{almost everywhere}.

Moreover, (ρˉ,uˉ,Πˉ)=(ρ,u,Π)(\bar{\rho},\bar{u},\bar{\Pi})=(\rho,u,\Pi) outside a compact subset of QQ.

The exponent p∗(s)p_*(s) is explicit; see Section 2. It tends to one as s↑3/2s \uparrow3/2, because the concentration needed to make the velocity perturbation small in HsH^s grows as ss approaches $3/2, and we have made no attempt to optimize it. The restriction rB<1/4r_B < 1/4 is only used to identify BB with a Euclidean ball.

The prescribed fields need not satisfy either evolution equation inside QQ. Applying the theorem to distinct smooth perturbations gives the following consequence.

Corollary 1.1 (Compactly supported nonuniqueness). Let s,p,(ρˉ,uˉ,Πˉ)s,p,(\bar{\rho},\bar{u},\bar{\Pi}) and QQ be as in Theorem 1.1. There are infinitely many distinct weak solutions which coincide with (ρˉ,uˉ,Πˉ)(\bar{\rho},\bar{u},\bar{\Pi}) outside compact subsets of QQ, converge to (ρˉ,uˉ)(\bar{\rho},\bar{u}) in CtLp×CtHsC_tL^p \times C_tH^s, and satisfy ρ≥12min⁡ρˉ\rho\geq\frac{1}{2}\min\bar{\rho}. In particular, there are infinitely many weak solutions with nonconstant density such that ρ−1\rho-1, uu and Π\Pi vanish outside a compact subset of QQ.

Remark 1.1 (Initial data and other domains). The solutions of Corollary 1.1 coincide with (ρˉ,uˉ,Πˉ)(\bar{\rho},\bar{u},\bar{\Pi}) for all times before the time interval of QQ. They are therefore infinitely many distinct weak solutions of the Cauchy problem with the same smooth initial data (ρˉ(0),uˉ(0))(\bar{\rho}(0),\bar{u}(0)); for the rest state these are ρ0=1\rho_0=1 and u0=0u_0=0. Moreover, the equations are local and the perturbation is supported in a compact subset of QQ. Hence the same fields are weak solutions on any domain Ω⊃B\Omega\supset B, in particular on R3\mathbb{R}^3 and on bounded domains with whatever boundary condition the reference solution satisfies, and the nonuniqueness statement holds there verbatim.

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