Long time regularity of solutions of the Hele--Shaw problem (Q2490776)

This article addresses the long time behavior of solutions of the one phase Hele-Shaw problem (without surface tension). The Hele-Shaw problem describes the flow of an incompressible viscous fluid between two parallel plates of small gap. The mathematical problem is posed as a Laplace equation for the unknown fluid pressure, subject to a nonlinear transport equation prescribed on the free boundary. The article proceeds as follows: First the notion of viscosity solution is reviewed. Then it is proven that the free boundary becomes Lipschitz continuous in time and space as soon as the moving domain (``positive phase'') exceeds the smallest ball in which it was contained initially. Finally, long-term regularity of solutions is shown by establishing upper and lower bounds on the gradients of solutions near the free boundary. This latter theorem is the basis for the author's existence results of (classical) analytic solutions, given in [ J. Differ. Equations 223, No. 1, 161--184 (2006; Zbl 1087.76024)]. The analysis required for the results presented here is based on solutions being harmonic at fixed time and is related to the work by \textit{L. A. Caffarelli, J. L. Vazquez} and \textit{N. I. Wolanski} [Indiana Univ. Math. J. 36, 373--401 (1987; Zbl 0644.35058)] on the porous medium equation.