Generalized Flows Satisfying Spatial Boundary Conditions

Abstract

In a region D in $${\mathbb{R}^2}$$ or $${\mathbb{R}^3}$$ , the classical Euler equation for the regular motion of an inviscid and incompressible fluid of constant density is given by $$\partial_t v+(v\cdot \nabla_x)v=-\nabla_x p, {\rm div}_x v=0,$$ where v(t, x) is the velocity of the particle located at $${x\in D}$$ at time t and $${p(t,x)\in\mathbb{R}}$$ is the pressure. Solutions v and p to the Euler equation can be obtained by solving $$\left\{\begin{array}{l} \nabla_x\left\{\partial_t\phi(t,x,a) + p(t,x)+(1/2)|\nabla_x\phi(t,x,a)|^2 \right\}=0\,{\rm at}\,a=\kappa(t,x),\\ v(t,x)=\nabla_x \phi(t,x,a)\,{\rm at}\,a=\kappa(t,x), \\ \partial_t\kappa(t,x)+(v\cdot\nabla_x)\kappa(t,x)=0, \\ {\rm div}_x v(t,x)=0, \end{array}\right. \quad\quad\quad\quad\quad(0.1)$$ where $$\phi:\mathbb{R}\times D\times \mathbb{R}^l\rightarrow\mathbb{R}\,{\rm and}\, \kappa:\mathbb{R}\times D \rightarrow \mathbb{R}^l$$ are additional unknown mappings (l ≥ 1 is prescribed). The third equation in the system says that $${\kappa\in\mathbb{R}^l}$$ is convected by the flow and the second one that $${\phi}$$ can be interpreted as some kind of velocity potential. However vorticity is not precluded thanks to the dependence on a. With the additional condition κ(0, x) = x on D (and thus l = 2 or 3), this formulation was developed by Brenier (Commun Pure Appl Math 52:411–452, 1999) in his Eulerian–Lagrangian variational approach to the Euler equation. He considered generalized flows that do not cross $${\partial D}$$ and that carry each “particle” at time t = 0 at a prescribed location at time t = T > 0, that is, κ(T, x) is prescribed in D for all $${x\in D}$$ . We are concerned with flows that are periodic in time and with prescribed flux through each point of the boundary $${\partial D}$$ of the bounded region D (a two- or three-dimensional straight pipe). More precisely, the boundary condition is on the flux through $${\partial D}$$ of particles labelled by each value of κ at each point of $${\partial D}$$ . One of the main novelties is the introduction of a prescribed “generalized” Bernoulli’s function $${H:\mathbb{R}^l\rightarrow \mathbb{R}}$$ , namely, we add to (0.1) the requirement that $$\partial_t\phi(t,x,a) +p(t,x)+(1/2)|\nabla_x\phi(t,x,a)|^2=H(a)\,{\rm at}\,a=\kappa(t,x)\quad\quad\quad\quad\quad(0.2)$$ with $${\phi,p,\kappa}$$ periodic in time of prescribed period T > 0. Equations (0.1) and (0.2) have a geometrical interpretation that is related to the notions of “Lamb’s surfaces” and “isotropic manifolds” in symplectic geometry. They may lead to flows with vorticity. An important advantage of Brenier’s formulation and its present adaptation consists in the fact that, under natural hypotheses, a solution in some weak sense always exists (if the boundary conditions are not contradictory). It is found by considering the functional $$(\kappa,v)\rightarrow \int\limits_{0}^T \int\limits_D\left\{\frac 1 2 |v(t,x)|^2+H(\kappa(t,x))\right\}dt\, dx$$ defined for κ and v that are T-periodic in t, such that $$\partial_t\kappa(t,x)+(v\cdot\nabla_x)\kappa(t,x)=0, {\rm div}_x v(t,x)=0,$$ and such that they satisfy the boundary conditions. The domain of this functional is enlarged to some set of vector measures and then a minimizer can be obtained. For stationary planar flows, the approach is compared with the following standard minimization method: to minimize $$\int\limits_{]0,L[\times]0,1[} \{(1/2)|\nabla \psi|^2+H(\psi)\}dx\,{\rm for}\,\psi\in W^{1,2}(]0,L[\times]0,1[)$$ under appropriate boundary conditions, where ψ is the stream function. For a minimizer, corresponding functions $${\phi}$$ and κ are given in terms of the stream function ψ.