Systematic Search for Singularities in 3D Euler Flows

We consider the question whether starting from a smooth initial condition 3D inviscid Euler flows on a periodic domain may develop singularities in a finite time. Our point of departure is the well-known result by Kato (J Funct Anal 9(3):296–305, 1972), which asserts the local existence of classical solutions to the Euler system in the Sobolev space Hm$$H^m$$ for m>5/2$$m > 5/2$$. Thus, the potential formation of a singularity must be accompanied by an unbounded growth of the Hm$$H^m$$ norm of the velocity field as the singularity time is approached. We perform a systematic search for “extreme” Euler flows that may realize such a scenario by formulating and solving a PDE-constrained optimization problem where the H3$$H^3$$ norm of the solution at a certain fixed time T>0$$T > 0$$ is maximized with respect to the initial data subject to suitable normalization constraints. This problem is solved using a state-of-the-art Riemannian conjugate gradient method where the gradient is obtained from solutions of an adjoint system. Computations performed with increasing numerical resolutions demonstrate that, as asserted by the theorem of Kato (1972), when the optimization time window [0, T] is sufficiently short, the H3$$H^3$$ norm remains bounded in the extreme flows found by solving the optimization problem, which indicates that the Euler system is well-posed on this “short” time interval. On the other hand, when the window [0, T] is long, possibly longer than the time of the local existence asserted by Kato’s theorem, then the H3$$H^3$$ norm of the extreme flows diverges upon resolution refinement, which indicates a possible singularity formulation on this “long” time interval. The extreme flow obtained on the long time window has the form of two colliding vortex rings and is characterized by certain symmetries. In particular, the region of the flow in which a singularity might occur is nearly axisymmetric.