No label defined (Q4938588)

The authors discuss the existence and uniqueness of classical solutions for the equations governing two problems: the steady viscous hydrodynamics and the traction problem of linear elastostatic. The study is performed by means of a maximum modulus theorem for the Stokes system. In the first part of the paper the study is oriented on the steady Navier-Stokes equations. The aim is to find conditions of minimal regularity on the domain and on the data to ensure existence and uniqueness of classical solutions, that is functions in \(C^2(\Omega)\cap C(\overline\Omega)\). The formulation of the problem is different from the variational approach and the techniques are slightly different. The main tool is the maximum modulus theorem for the Stokes system: if \((u,\pi)\) is a classical solution to Stokes system, which is equal to some function \(a\in C(\partial\Omega)\) on the boundary, then \[ \max_{\overline\Omega}|u|\leq C\max_{\partial\Omega}|a|. \] In this paper the authors complete the study of this kind of theorems, which was already developed in other papers by themselves and others, by extending it to exterior domains and the half space. Moreover a uniqueness result for classical solutions is shown, which finally implies that each classical solution satisfies a maximum modulus relation. With the help of this resultit is then shown that there exists a unique classical solution to the Navier-Stokes equations in bounded domains with a continuous boundary datum, under the assumption that the viscosity is large and the data are small. In the second part of the paper the object of the analysis is the equilibrium configuration of a linearly elastic body loaded on the boundary. Again the main theme is to look for the regular conditions on the data, the elasticity coefficient and the traction field on the boundary in such a way that there exists a unique classical solution. In general it can be proved that, with some assumptions on the surface traction field, there exists a unique variational solution. By means of the maximum modulus theorem the authors show that there exists a unique classical solution in bounded and exterior domains and in the half space, if the surface traction field is continuous and the body is isotropic near the boundary. Moreover, a maximum modulus theorem is valid for these solutions. At the end some counterexamples are explained to show that the above results are sharp for homogeneous bodies and sufficiently strong for non-homogeneous bodies. For the entire collection see [Zbl 0910.00031].