Partial regularity of a generalized solution to the Navier-Stokes equations in exterior domain (Q1821945)

We study the partial regularity of suitable weak solutions to an I.B.V.P. for the nonstationary three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations in exterior domains. We call ''singular'' a point (x,t) for a solution \(\underset \tilde{} u\) to the N-S equations, iff \(\underset \tilde{} u\) is not essentially bounded on any neighborhood I(x,t) of (x,t) [i.e., \(u\not\in L^{\infty}(I(x,t))]\). We consider weak solutions \(\underset \tilde{} u\), which are also generalized solutions, that is \(\underset \tilde{} u\) has second-order spatial derivatives and time derivative of 5/4 power summability. First, we deduce that the set S of all singular points, if not empty, of a generalized solution \(\underset \tilde{} u\) has at most Hausdorff measure of parabolic type \(P^ 1(S)=0\). Moreover, we prove that, in the further hypothesis of summability of first derivatives of the initial data in \(L^ 2(\Omega -S_ R)\) of a generalized solution \(\underset \tilde{} u\), where \(\Omega\) is an exterior domain and \(S_ R\) a sphere of ray R, the solution is regular at any instant \(t>0\) and at any point \(x\in \Omega\) such that \(| x| \geq R'>R\), for a suitable R'. The result of partial regularity in the paper follows the proof lines of a work of Caffarelli-Kohn-Nirenberg on partial regularity of weak suitable solutions to the Cauchy problem and an I.B.V.P. in a bounded domains for the N-S equations.