On nonlinear stability of stationary Euler flows on a rotating sphere (Q1120406)

We consider Euler flows on a constantly rotating sphere which are an approximation to many real flows in oceanographic problems, and we prove the Lyapunov stability in the \({\mathcal L}^ 1\)-norm of a class of stationary, eventually nonsmooth flows belonging to \({\mathcal L}^{2+\epsilon}\). To do this, we introduce a functional which is constant along the motion of the fluid, because of the symmetry of the physical problem. This functional will be used in the conclusive convexity inequalities. We want to stress that putting this first integral in place of the energy in the Arnold method allows us to prove stability for a wider class of stationary states, since piecewise constant solutions are not excluded. The \(\beta\)-plane approximation, widely used in the study of geophysical flows, can be studied by exploiting exactly the same techniques as those used in this paper. In Section 1 we introduce the Euler equation on a rotating sphere and state our main result, which is proved in Section 2. For the sake of completeness, in Section 3 we study also stability in the smooth case by adapting to our context the Arnold method.