A Priori Estimates for the Free-Boundary 3D Compressible Euler Equations in Physical Vacuum

Abstract

We prove a priori estimates for the three-dimensional compressible Euler equations with moving physical vacuum boundary, with an equation of state given by p(ρ) = C γ ρ γ for γ > 1. The vacuum condition necessitates the vanishing of the pressure, and hence density, on the dynamic boundary, which creates a degenerate and characteristic hyperbolic free-boundary system to which standard methods of symmetrizable hyperbolic equations cannot be applied.