Wild Weak Solutions to Equations arising in Hydrodynamics - 1/6 - Vlad Vicol
Channel: Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques (IHÉS)
Date: 2020-02-24

In this course, we will discuss the use of convex integration to construct wild weak solutions in the context of the Euler and Navier-Stokes equations. In particular, we will outline the resolution of Onsager's conjecture as well as the recent proof of non-uniqueness of weak solutions to the Navier-Stokes equations.

Onsager's conjecture states that weak solutions to the Euler equation belonging to Hölder spaces with Hölder exponent greater than 1/3 conserve energy, and conversely, there exit weak solutionslying in any Hölder space with exponent less than 1/3 which dissipate energy. The conjecture itself is linked to the anomalous disspoation of energy in turbulent flows, which has been called the zeroth law of turbulence.

For initial datum of finite kinetic energy, Leray has proven that there exists at least one global in time finite energy weak solution of the 3D Navier-Stokes equations. We prove that weak solutions of the 3D Navier-Stokes equations are not unique, within a class of weak solutions with finite kinetic energy. The non-uniqueness of Leray-Hopf solutions is the subset of a famous conjecture of Ladyzenskaja in '69, and to date, this conjecture remains open.