Potential singularity of the 3D Euler equations in the interior domain
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Whether the 3D incompressible Euler equations can develop a finite time singularity from smooth initial data is one of the most challenging problems in nonlinear PDEs. In this paper, we present some new numerical evidence that the 3D axisymmetric incompressible Euler equations with smooth initial data of finite energy develop a potential finite time singularity at the origin. This potential singularity is different from the blowup scenario revealed by Luo-Hou in <cit.>, which occurs on the boundary. Our initial condition has a simple form and shares several attractive features of a more sophisticated initial condition constructed by Hou-Huang in <cit.>. One important difference between these two blowup scenarios is that the solution for our initial data has a one-scale structure instead of a two-scale structure reported in <cit.>. More importantly, the solution seems to develop nearly self-similar scaling properties that are compatible with those of the 3D Navier–Stokes equations. We will present strong numerical evidence that the 3D Euler equations seem to develop a potential finite time singularity. Moreover, the nearly self-similar profile seems to be very stable to the small perturbation of the initial data. Finally, we present some preliminary results to demonstrate that the 3D Navier–Stokes equations using the same initial condition develop nearly singular behavior with maximum vorticity increased by a factor of 10^7.
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