Conservation Laws and Nonlocally Related Systems of Two-Dimensional Boundary Layer Models

Abstract

Abstract Local conservation laws, potential systems, and nonlocal conservation laws are systematically computed for three-equilibrium two-component boundary layer models that describe different physical situations: a plate flow, a flow parallel to the axis of a circular cylinder, and a radial jet striking a planar wall. First, local conservation laws of each model are computed using the direct method. For each of the three boundary layer models, two local conservation laws are found. The corresponding potential variables are introduced, and nonlocally related potential systems and subsystems are formed. Then nonlocal conservation laws are sought, arising as local conservation laws of nonlocally related systems. For each of the three physical models, similar nonlocal conservation laws arise. Further nonlocal variables that lead to further potential systems are considered. Trees of nonlocally related systems are constructed; their structure coincides for all three models. The three boundary layer models considered in this work provide rich and interesting examples of the construction of trees of nonlocally related systems. In particular, the trees involve spectral potential systems depending on a parameter; these spectral potential systems lead to nonlocal conservation laws. Moreover, potential variables that are not locally related on solution sets of some potential systems become local functions of each other on solution sets of other systems. The point symmetry analysis shows that the plate and radial jet flow models possess infinite-dimensional Lie algebras of point symmetries, whereas the Lie algebra of point symmetries for the cylinder flow model is three-dimensional. The computation of nonlocal symmetries reveals none that arise for the original model equations, which is common for partial differential equations (PDE) systems without constitutive parameters or functions, but does reveal nonlocal symmetries for some nonlocally related PDE systems.