\(L^1\)-solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations in exterior domains (Q1271233)

This is an interesting study of the initial-boundary value problem of the Navier-Stokes equations in \(\Omega\times (0,T)\): \[ u_t-\Delta u+u.\nabla u+\nabla p= 0,\quad \text{div }u= 0,\quad x\in\Omega,\;0<t<T, \] \[ u= 0\quad\text{on }\partial\Omega,\quad u(x)\to 0\quad\text{as }| x|\to\infty,\quad u(x,0)= a(x), \] where \(u= u(x,t)= (u_1(x,t), u_2(x,t),\dots, u_n(x,t))\), is the velocity vector, \(p= p(x,t)\) is the pressure field at the point \((x,t)\in \Omega\times (0,T)\), \(a= a(x)= (a_1(x), a_2(x),\dots, a_n(x))\), and the external field is included in the pessure gradient. The author proves a necessary and sufficient condition on \(L^1\)-summability over the exterior domain \(\Omega\) of strong solutions \(u\) of the initial-boundary value problem. Several interesting theorems and lemmas are proved. It is shown that every strong solution \(u\) satisfies certain behavior provided the initial data is regular to some extent. Application of the projection operator \(P\) onto the solenoidal vector fields to both sides of the Navier-Stokes equations leads to the integral equation for \(u\) as \[ u(t)= e^{-tA} a- \int^t_0 \exp\{-(t- \tau)A\} P(u.\nabla u)(\tau) d\tau,\quad 0<t< T, \] where \(A= -P\Delta\) denotes the Stokes operator. This is an important contribution of the author to the mathematical literature of \(L^1\)-solutions to the Navier-Stokes equations in exterior domains.