Singularity formation for Prandtl's equations (Q1036747)

The authors investigate the formation of a singularity for the Prandtl equations in the case of an impulsively started two-dimensional disk. The obtained results support that the van Dommelen-Shen singularity [\textit{L. L. van Dommelen} and \textit{S. F. Shen}, J. Comput. Phys. 38, 125--140 (1980; Zbl 0452.76035)] can be classified as a cubic root singularity. Introducing a class of initial data, uniformly bounded in \(H^{1}\), which have a dipole singularity in the complex plane, it is shown that these data lead to a solution blow-up whose time can be made arbitrarily short within this class. This is a numerical evidence of the ill-posedness of Prandtl equations in \(H^{1}\). The presence of a small viscosity in the streamwise direction changes the behavior of singularities. They stabilize at a distance from the real axis which depends on the amount of viscosity. It is also shown that the van Dommelen-Shen singularity and the singularity predicted by \textit{W. E} and \textit{B. Engquist} [Commun. Pure Appl. Math. 50, No.12, 1287--1293 (1997; Zbl 0908.35099)] have different structures in the complex plane.