No label defined (Q3973760)

[For the entire collection see Zbl 0723.00025.] The computation of optimal profiles, i.e. those giving rise to a minimal drag, has been considered by several authors, among them O. Pironneau (1974,1976), F. Murat and J. Simon (1974), and E. Fernández Cara (1981). Usually, the drag has been approximated by the total viscous energy which is dissipated in the fluid. This paper may be viewed as a first attempt to apply some general results --- due mainly to J. Simon and concerning differentiation with respect to domains --- in order to prove rigorously that the energy is differentiable with respect to admissible profile variations. Also, the corresponding derivative is computed. These results have been improved in subsequent papers, written by the authors in collaboration with \textit{J. Simon} [see C. R. Acad. Sci., Paris, Sér. I 313, No. 7, 447-450 (1991; Zbl 0748.49033) and references therein].