Semi‐invariant solutions of the Navier‐Stokes equations

Abstract

We present new exact solutions and reduced differential systems of the Navier‐Stokes equations of incompressible viscous fluid flow. We apply the method of semi‐invariant manifolds, introduced earlier as a modification of the Lie invariance method. We show that many known solutions of the Navier‐Stokes equations are, in fact, semi‐invariant and that the reduced differential systems we derive using semi‐invariant manifolds generalize previously obtained results that used ad hoc methods. Many of our semi‐invariant solutions solve decoupled systems in triangular form that are effectively linear. We also obtain several new reductions of Navier‐Stokes to a single nonlinear partial differential equation. In some cases, we can solve reduced systems and generate new analytic solutions of the Navier‐Stokes equations or find their approximations, and physical interpretation.