Continuous alignment of vorticity direction prevents the blow-up of the Navier-Stokes flow under the no-slip boundary condition (Q2278492)

A regularity criterion based on vorticity direction for the three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations under the no-slip boundary condition is established. The boundary value problem to the Navier-Stokes is considered. \[ \begin{array}{c} \frac{\partial u}{\partial t}-\Delta u+\mbox{div}\,(u\otimes u)+\nabla p=0,\quad x\in \Omega,\quad t\in(-1,0), \vphantom{\frac{I}{\frac{I}{\frac{I}{I}}}}\\ u=0\ \mbox{on}\ x\in \partial\Omega,\quad t\in(-1,0). \end{array} \] Here \(\Omega\subset\mathbb{R}^3\) is a bounded domain with \(\partial\Omega\in C^3\), \(u(x,t)=(u_1,u_2,u_3)\) is the velocity field, \(p(x,t)\) is the pressure. The solution \(u\) assumes the possibility of blow-up at time \(t=0\) of type \(I\), i.e., \[ \sup\limits_{-1<t<0}(-t)^{1/2}\Vert u(\cdot,t)\Vert_\infty<\infty. \] The article provides the following condition for the absence of type \(I\) blow-up. The vorticity direction \[ \xi=\frac{\mbox{curl}\,u}{|\mbox{curl}\,u|} \] satisfies to \[ |\xi(x,t)-\xi(y,t)|\leq\eta(|x-y|)\ \mbox{for}\ (x,t),(y,t)\in\{(x,t)\in \Omega\times(-1,0):|\mbox{curl}\,u(x,t)|>d\}, \] where \(d\) is a certain positive number and \(\eta\) is a non-decreasing continuous function on \([0,\infty]\) such that \(\eta(0)=0\). Under this condition the solution \(u\) is bounded up to \(t=0\). The result obtained in this article is an extension of the previously obtained one for a half space \(\mathbb{R}^3_+\).