Existence of the stationary Navier-Stokes flow in \(\mathbb{R}^2\) around a radial flow (Q2683675)

The authors consider the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations in the two-dimensional plane. Existence of time-independent classical solutions that behave like \(\mu x/|x|^2\) for large \(|x|\) is established if \(\mu\neq 0\) is a sufficiently small parameter and if the external forcing satisfies suitable smallness conditions. This is in contrast to previous works, where \(\mu\) was either assumed to be large or additional pointwise symmetry assumptions on the external forcing were required. The problem is analyzed via the streamfunction-vorticity formulation in polar coordinates, where the different Fourier modes with respect to the angular variable are studied in suitably weighted function spaces.