Nonlinear Stability of Relativistic Vortex Sheets in Three-Dimensional Minkowski Spacetime

We are concerned with the nonlinear stability of vortex sheets for the relativistic Euler equations in three-dimensional Minkowski spacetime. This is a nonlinear hyperbolic problem with a characteristic free boundary. In this paper, we introduce a new symmetrization by choosing appropriate functions as primary unknowns. A necessary and sufficient condition for the weakly linear stability of relativistic vortex sheets is obtained by analyzing the roots of the Lopatinski\u{\i} determinant associated to the constant coefficient linearized problem. Under this stability condition, we show that the variable coefficient linearized problem obeys an energy estimate with a loss of derivatives. The construction of certain weight functions plays a crucial role in absorbing error terms caused by microlocalization. Based on the weakly linear stability result, we establish the existence and nonlinear stability of relativistic vortex sheets under small initial perturbations by a Nash--Moser iteration scheme.Comment: 105 pages; to appear in: Arch. Ration. Mech. Anal. 201

Weak Continuity of the Gauss-Codazzi-Ricci System for Isometric Embedding

We establish the weak continuity of the Gauss-Coddazi-Ricci system for isometric embedding with respect to the uniform $L^p$-bounded solution sequence for $p>2$, which implies that the weak limit of the isometric embeddings of the manifold is still an isometric embedding. More generally, we establish a compensated compactness framework for the Gauss-Codazzi-Ricci system in differential geometry. That is, given any sequence of approximate solutions to this system which is uniformly bounded in $L^2$ and has reasonable bounds on the errors made in the approximation (the errors are confined in a compact subset of $H^{-1}_{\text{loc}}$), then the approximating sequence has a weakly convergent subsequence whose limit is a solution of the Gauss-Codazzi-Ricci system. Furthermore, a minimizing problem is proposed as a selection criterion. For these, no restriction on the Riemann curvature tensor is made

Incompressible Limit of Solutions of Multidimensional Steady Compressible Euler Equations

A compactness framework is formulated for the incompressible limit of approximate solutions with weak uniform bounds with respect to the adiabatic exponent for the steady Euler equations for compressible fluids in any dimension. One of our main observations is that the compactness can be achieved by using only natural weak estimates for the mass conservation and the vorticity. Another observation is that the incompressibility of the limit for the homentropic Euler flow is directly from the continuity equation, while the incompresibility of the limit for the full Euler flow is from a combination of all the Euler equations. As direct applications of the compactness framework, we establish two incompressible limit theorems for multidimensional steady Euler flows through infinitely long nozzles, which lead to two new existence theorems for the corresponding problems for multidimensional steady incompressible Euler equations.Comment: 17 pages; 2 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1311.398

Isometric embedding via strongly symmetric positive systems

We give a new proof for the local existence of a smooth isometric embedding of a smooth $3$-dimensional Riemannian manifold with nonzero Riemannian curvature tensor into $6$-dimensional Euclidean space. Our proof avoids the sophisticated arguments via microlocal analysis used in earlier proofs. In Part 1, we introduce a new type of system of partial differential equations, which is not one of the standard types (elliptic, hyperbolic, parabolic) but satisfies a property called strong symmetric positivity. Such a PDE system is a generalization of and has properties similar to a system of ordinary differential equations with a regular singular point. A local existence theorem is then established by using a novel local-to-global-to-local approach. In Part 2, we apply this theorem to prove the local existence result for isometric embeddings.Comment: 39 page

Global Solutions of the Compressible Euler Equations with Large Initial Data of Spherical Symmetry and Positive Far-Field Density

We are concerned with the global existence theory for spherically symmetric solutions of the multidimensional compressible Euler equations with large initial data of positive far-field density. The central feature of the solutions is the strengthening of waves as they move radially inward toward the origin. Various examples have shown that the spherically symmetric solutions of the Euler equations blow up near the origin at certain time. A fundamental unsolved problem is whether the density of the global solution would form concentration to become a measure near the origin for the case when the total initial-energy is unbounded. Another longstanding problem is whether a rigorous proof could be provided for the inviscid limit of the multidimensional compressible Navier-Stokes to Euler equations with large initial data. In this paper, we establish a global existence theory for spherically symmetric solutions of the compressible Euler equations with large initial data of positive far-field density and relative finite-energy. This is achieved by developing a new approach via adapting a class of degenerate density-dependent viscosity terms, so that a rigorous proof of the vanishing viscosity limit of global weak solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations with the density-dependent viscosity terms to the corresponding global solution of the Euler equations with large initial data of spherical symmetry and positive far-field density can be obtained. One of our main observations is that the adapted class of degenerate density-dependent viscosity terms not only includes the viscosity terms for the Navier-Stokes equations for shallow water (Saint Venant) flows but also, more importantly, is suitable to achieve our key objective of this paper. These results indicate that concentration is not formed in the vanishing viscosity limit even when the total initial-energy is unbounded.Comment: 57 page

Steady Euler Flows with Large Vorticity and Characteristic Discontinuities in Arbitrary Infinitely Long Nozzles

We establish the existence and uniqueness of smooth solutions with large vorticity and weak solutions with vortex sheets/entropy waves for the steady Euler equations for both compressible and incompressible fluids in arbitrary infinitely long nozzles. We first develop a new approach to establish the existence of smooth solutions without assumptions on the sign of the second derivatives of the horizontal velocity, or the Bernoulli and entropy functions, at the inlet for the smooth case. Then the existence for the smooth case can be applied to construct approximate solutions to establish the existence of weak solutions with vortex sheets/entropy waves by nonlinear arguments. This is the first result on the global existence of solutions of the multidimensional steady compressible full Euler equations with free boundaries, which are not necessarily small perturbations of piecewise constant background solutions. The subsonic-sonic limit of the solutions is also shown. Finally, through the incompressible limit, we establish the existence and uniqueness of incompressible Euler flows in arbitrary infinitely long nozzles for both the smooth solutions with large vorticity and the weak solutions with vortex sheets. The methods and techniques developed here will be useful for solving other problems involving similar difficulties.Comment: 43 pages; 2 figures; To be published in Advances in Mathematics (2019

A Fluid Dynamic Formulation of the Isometric Embedding Problem in Differential Geometry

The isometric embedding problem is a fundamental problem in differential geometry. A longstanding problem is considered in this paper to characterize intrinsic metrics on a two-dimensional Riemannian manifold which can be realized as isometric immersions into the three-dimensional Euclidean space. A remarkable connection between gas dynamics and differential geometry is discussed. It is shown how the fluid dynamics can be used to formulate a geometry problem. The equations of gas dynamics are first reviewed. Then the formulation using the fluid dynamic variables in conservation laws of gas dynamics is presented for the isometric embedding problem in differential geometry.Comment: arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:0805.243