Instability for the Navier-Stokes equations on the 2-dimensional torus and a lower bound for the Hausdorff dimension of their global attractors (Q1200486)

The author investigates the Navier-Stokes equations with periodic boundary conditions on the torus \([0,2\pi]\times [0,2\pi]\). To a given external force \(f\) he constructs a stationary solution \(u_ 0\) and linearizes the equations at \(u_ 0\). It is then shown that if \(f\) is large enough, there are negative eigenvalues and consequently the stationary solution is unstable. Moreover, the number of unstable directions can be estimated in terms of the Reynolds number, and lower bounds for the Hausdorff dimension of the attractor are given. The analysis is based on a Fourier expansion of the solution which allows for a formulation of the eigenvalue problem in terms of recurrent relations for the Fourier coefficients; these relations are investigated by continued fractions.