The
Stokes
semigroup
on
non-decaying
spaces
Ken Abe
The
University of
Tokyo
Abstract
In this briefnote, we review recentresults on the analyticity of the Stokes semigroup
in spaces ofboundedfunctions. The Stokes equations are well understood on $L^{p}$ space,
$p\in(1, \infty)$,forvariouskinds of domains suchasboundedorexterior domains with smooth
boundaries. However,thesituation isverydifferenton$L^{\infty}$since in thiscasethe Helmholtz
projection does notactasabounded operatoron $L^{\infty}$anymore. Thepurposeofthisnoteis
toreviewan approach toprovethe analyticity ofthe semigroupon $L^{\infty}$,especially,on $L_{\sigma}^{\infty}$
$($and$BUC_{\sigma})$forexterior domains and perturbed halfspaces. Notethatformerely bounded
initialdata, even existenceof solutions arenon-trivial. We approximate merely bounded
initial dataon$L_{\sigma}^{\infty}$andprovetheunique existence of solutions togetherwiththeanalyticity
of thesemigroup.Thisnoteis basedonjointworks with Y.Giga[2], [3]and the thesis [1].
1 Introduction
Weconsider the initial-boundary problem for the Stokesequationsin the domain$\Omega\subset \mathbb{R}^{n},$$n\geq 2$
:
$v_{t}-\Delta v+\nabla q=0$ in $\Omega\cross(0, T)$, (1.1)
$divv=0$ in $\Omega\cross(0, T)$, (1.2)
$v=0$
on
$\partial\Omega\cross(0, T)$, (1.3)$\nu=v_{0}$
on
$\Omega\cross\{t=0\}$.
(1.4)Itiswell known that the solution operator(calledthe Stokes semigroup)
$S(t);v_{0}\mapsto v(\cdot, t) , t\geq 0,$
forms
an
analytic semigroupon
thesolenoidal $L^{p}$space,
$L_{\sigma}^{p}(\Omega),$ $p\in(1, \infty)$,forvariouskind ofdomains$\Omega$, such
as
bounded andexteriordomains with smooth boundaries [25], [13]. However,it had been
a
long-standingopen
problem whetheror
not the Stokes semigroup $\{S(t)\}_{t\geq 0}$ isanalytic
on
$L^{\infty}$-typespaces
even
if$\Omega$is bounded. When $\Omega$isa
halfspace,
it isknown thattheStokes semigroup $\{S(t)\}_{t\geq 0}$ is analytic
on
$L^{\infty}$-typespaces
since explicit solution formulasare
available [6], [19], [26].
In [2], Y.Giga and the author
gave
an
affirmativeanswer
tothisopen
problematleast when$\Omega$is bounded
as a
typical example. Later, this approachwas
extendedto exteriordomains [3]prove
theexistenceof solutions for merely bounded initial dataas
wellas
the analyticity of thesemigroup
on
$L^{\infty}$-typespaces.
We begin with
a
typical statementforbounded domains. Let$C_{0,\sigma}(\Omega)$denotethe$L^{\infty}$-closureof$C_{c,\sigma}^{\infty}(\Omega)$, the
space
ofall smooth solenoidal vectorfields with compact support in $\Omega$.
When $\Omega$ is bounded, $C_{0,\sigma}(\Omega)$agrees
with thespace
of all solenoidal vector fields continuous in 2 vanishingon
$\partial\Omega[18].$ $A$typicalresultproved in [2,Theorem 1.1] isthefollowing:Theorem
1.1
(Analyticityon
$C_{0,\sigma}$). Let$\Omega$bea
bounded domain in$\mathbb{R}^{n}$ with$C^{3}$-boundary. Then,the solutionoperator(the Stokessemigroup) $S(t)$
:
$v_{0}\mapsto v(\cdot, t)$ is a $C_{0}$-analytic semigroupon$C_{0,\sigma}(\Omega)$.
Theapproachto
prove
Theorem 1.1was
toestablishan
priori estimate for$N(v,q)(x, t)=|v(x, t)|+t^{\frac{1}{2}}|\nabla v(x, t)|+t|\nabla^{2}v(x, t)|+t|\partial_{t}v(x, t)|+t|\nabla q(x, t)|$ (1.5)
oftheform
$\sup_{0<r<T_{0}}\Vert N(v, q)\Vert_{\infty}(t)\leq C||v_{0}\Vert_{\infty}$ (1.6)
for
some
$T_{0}>0$ and $C$ depending onlyon
the domain $\Omega$, where $||v_{0}||_{\infty}=||v_{0}||_{L^{\infty}(\Omega)}$ denotesthe $\sup$
-norm
of $|v_{0}|$ in $\Omega$. Thea
priori estimate (1.6)was
proved byan
indirect argumentcalled
a
blow-up argumentwhichis often usedinthestudy of non-linear elliptic andparabolicequations [12], [14], [21], [20] (see also [17], [16] for the Navier-Stokes equations). Later,
a
direct approachto
prove
Theorem 1.1was
foundin [4]. The approachinthepaper
isto derive$L^{\infty}$-estimates for solutions of theresolvent problemcolresponding to $(1.1)-(1.4)$ based
on
theMasuda-Stewart technique for elliptic operators.
Inboth approaches,
a
keyistoestimatepressure
gradientintermsofvelocity, i.e.,$\sup_{x\in\Omega}d_{\Omega}(x)|\nabla q(x, \cdot)|\leq C||w||_{L^{\infty}(\partial\Omega)}$, (1.7)
where
$w(v)=-(\nabla v-\nabla^{T}v)n_{\Omega}$
.
(1.8)Here, $d_{\Omega}$denotes the distance from$x\in\Omega$ to$\partial\Omega$, i.e.,$d_{\Omega}(x)= \inf_{v\in\partial\Omega}|x-y|$ and
$n_{\Omega}$denotes the
unitoutward normalvector field
on
$\partial\Omega$. For$n=3,$ $w(v)$ is nothing buta
tangential componentofvorticity, i.e., -curl $v\cross n_{\Omega}$
.
For$n=2,$ $w(v)$ agrees with-curl $vn_{\Omega}^{\perp}$, where $n_{\Omega}^{\perp}=(n_{\Omega}^{2}, -n_{\Omega}^{1})$.
Theestimate (1.7) plays
an
importantrole forestimatingpressure
gradient $\nabla q=(I-\mathbb{P})\Delta v$bythe velocity $v$
on
$L^{\infty}$ since the Helmholtz projection $\mathbb{P}$ does not actas a
bounded operatoron
$L^{\infty}$. Actually, theestimate(1.7)is
a
specialcase
of theestimatefor the homogeneous Neumann problemofthe form$\Delta q=0$ in$\Omega,$ $\frac{\partial q}{\partial n_{\Omega}}=div_{\partial\Omega}w$ $\partial\Omega$, (1.9)
where $div_{\partial\Omega}$ denotes the surface divergence
on
$\partial\Omega$. Since the divergence-free condition forvelocityimplies
$\Delta v\cdot n_{\Omega}=div_{\partial\Omega}w(v)$
on
$\partial\Omega,$the
pressure
$q$ solves the Neumann problem(1.9)for $w=w(v)$.
Theestimate(1.7) is valid forvarious domains,butit
may
notbetrueforgeneral domainsso
we
call$\Omega$strictly admissible ifhalf
space
is strictly admissible. Moreover, itwas
proved that bounded domains [2, Theorem2.5] andexterior domains [3, Theorem3.1] of class $C^{3}$
are
strictly admissible. However, layerdomains
are
notstrictlyadmissible. Infact,ina
layerdomain,$\Omega=\{x=(x’, x_{n})\in \mathbb{R}^{n}|0<x_{n}<$$1\},$ $P=x_{1}$ does not satisfy the estimate (1.9) for$w=0$
.
Weconjecture that quasi-cylindricaldomains, i.e.,$\varlimsup_{|x|arrow\infty}d_{\Omega}(x)<\infty$,
are
notstrictlyadmissible.Actually, itis possibletoextend Theorem 1.1 for general strictlyadmissible,uniformly$C^{3_{-}}$
domains [2,Theorem 1.3]by usingthe$\tilde{L}^{\rho}$
-theory developed in[8], [9], [10] sincethe
space
$C_{0,\sigma}$isthe$L^{\infty}$-closure of
$C_{c,\sigma}^{\infty}$. Once
we
have thea
priori
estimate(1.6) for$v_{0}\in C_{c,\sigma}^{\infty}$,itis extendablefor$v_{0}\in C_{0,\sigma}$
.
Notethat the$L^{p}$-theory is also available for uniformly$C^{3}$-domainsforwhichtheHelmholtzprojection isbounded
on
$L^{p}[11]$so we are
abletoextend Theorem 1.1 throughthe$L^{\rho}$-theoryfor domains such
as
exteriordomainsor
perturbed halfspaces.
2
Non-decayingsolenoidalspaces
Itisnaturalto extend Theorem 1.1 for the larger
space
than$C_{0,\sigma},$$L_{\sigma}^{\infty}(\Omega)=\{f\in L^{\infty}(\Omega)$ $\int_{\Omega}f\cdot\nabla\varphi dx=0$ for all $\varphi\in\hat{W}^{1,1}(\Omega)\},$
where$\hat{W}^{1.1}(\Omega)$denotes the homogeneous Sobolev
space
$W^{1,1}(\Omega)=\{\varphi\in L_{toc}^{1}(\Omega)|\nabla\varphi\in L^{1}(\Omega)\}.$Sincethe
space
$L_{\sigma}^{\infty}$ includes discontinuous functions,we
approximate$v_{0}\in L_{\sigma}^{\infty}(\Omega)$ by elementsof$C_{c,\sigma}^{\infty}$ by thepointwise
convergence
in$\Omega$.
We extend the Stokes semigroup$S(t)$to$L_{\sigma}^{\infty}$by thefollowingapproximation [2, Lemma6.3].
Lemma2.1 (Approximation). Let$\Omega$beabounded domain in$\mathbb{R}^{n},$ $n\geq 2$, withLipschitz
bound-ary. There exists
a
constant $C=C_{\Omega}$ such thatfor
$v_{0}\in L_{\sigma}^{\infty}(\Omega)$, there exists asequence
$\{v_{0,m}\}_{m=1}^{\infty}\subset C_{c,\sigma}^{\infty}(\Omega)$ such that
$||\nu_{0,m}||_{L^{\infty}(\Omega)}\leq C||v_{0}||_{L^{\infty}(\Omega)},$
(2.1)
$v_{0,m}arrow v_{0}$
a.e.
in$\Omega$as
$marrow\infty.$If
we
donotcare
about thedivergence-free condition for thesequence
$\{v_{0,m}\}_{m=1}^{\infty}$, it iseasy
toconstructthe
sequence
satisfying(2.1). Lemma2.1says
thatwe
are
able toapproximate$v_{0}\in L_{\sigma}^{\infty}$by solenoidalvector fields $\{v_{0,m}\}_{m=1}^{\infty}\subset C_{c,\sigma}^{\infty}$ keeping the $\sup$-norm, i.e., $||v_{0,m}||_{\infty}\leq C||v_{0}||_{\infty}$
.
If$\Omega$ is star-shaped, i.e., $\lambda\overline{\Omega}\subset\Omega,$$\lambda<1$, it is easy to construct the
sequence
satisfying (2.1). Infact,for$v_{0}\in L_{\sigma}^{\infty}(\Omega)$, set $v_{0_{}l}(x)=\nu_{0}(\lambda x)$for$x\in\lambda\Omega$and $v_{0,\lambda}(x)=0$for$x\in\Omega\backslash \lambda\Omega$
so
that$\nu_{0,\lambda}$is a compactly supported solenoidalvectorfield in $\Omega$. Then, we getthedesired sequence with
$C=1$in (2.1)by multiplyingthe mollifier$\eta_{\epsilon}$to$v_{0.\lambda}$,i.e.,$v_{0.m}=\eta_{1/m}*v_{0,\lambda_{m}}$
.
For general boundeddomains,
we
are
able toprove
Lemma 2.1 bydecomposing$\Omega$into star-shapeddomains.By the above approximation,
we
are
abletoprove
that the Stokessemigroup$S(t)$ is $a$(non-$C_{0^{-}})$analytic semigroup
on
$L_{\sigma}^{\infty}(\Omega)$ [$2$,Theorem1.5]. Note thatthesemigroup$S(t)$isnottype$C_{0}$since$S(t)v_{0}$is smoothfor$t>0$
so
$S(t)v_{0}arrow v_{0}$on
$L^{\infty}$as
$t\downarrow 0$maynothold for general$\nu_{0}\in L_{\sigma}^{\infty}.$This
means
that$S(t)$ isa
non
$-C_{0}$-analytic semigroup.Now,
we
observe the extension of $S(t)$ to $L_{\sigma}^{\infty}(\Omega)$ for unbounded domains $\Omega$. Note thatthe
space
$L_{\sigma}^{\infty}$ includes non-decaying functionsas
$|x|arrow\infty$so
the existence of solutions for $v_{0}\in L_{\sigma}^{\infty}(\Omega)$are
non-trivialproblem. However,if Lemma2.1 isvalid for theunbounded domain(satisfying the strictly admissibility),
we
are
able toprove
the existence of solutions for$v_{0}\in L_{\sigma}^{\infty}(\Omega)$ satisfying the estimate (1.6) (called $L^{\infty}$-solutions). Although the approximation
(2.1) is unknown in general, it is known to hold for exterior domains [3, Lemma 5.1] and
perturbed half
space
[1, Lemma 4.3.10]. Letus
sketch the approachtoprove
the existence ofsolutions for$v_{0}\in L_{\sigma}^{\infty}$based
on
[3] (and [1])forexteriordomains and perturbed halfspaces.
Our approach isby the $L^{\infty}$-estimate (1.6) and the approximation (2.1). We find
a
solution$(v, q)$ for$v_{0}\in L_{\sigma}^{\infty}$by
a
sequence
of$L^{p}$-solutions $\{(v_{m}, q_{m})\}_{m=1}^{\infty}$ for$v_{0,m}\in C_{c,\sigma}^{\infty}$. Bythe estimates(1.6) and(2.1), the
sequence
$(v_{m}, q_{m})$is uniformlybounded,i.e.,$\sup_{0<t<T_{0}}\Vert N(v_{m}, q_{m})\Vert_{\infty}(t)\leq C||v_{0}||_{\infty}$. (2.2)
Since $\nu_{0,m}arrow v_{0}$, itis natural to expectthat $(v_{m}, q_{m})$ converges to a
so
lution $(v, q)$ for$v_{0}\in L_{\sigma}^{\infty}.$Infact, by(1.6)and (2.1),
we
are
abletoestimate theH\"oldersemi-norms of$\nabla q$in the interiorof $\Omega\cross(0, T]$ both in
space
and time variables. Thus, from the parabolic regularity theory,$\{(v_{m}, q_{m})\}_{m=1}^{\infty}$ (subsequently)
converges
toa
limit $(v, q)$ locally uniformly in $\Omega\cross(0, T]$up
tosecond orders. Actually, the limit $(v, q)$ is continuous in $\overline{\Omega}\cross(0, T]$
up
to second derivativessince
we
have local H\"older estimatesup
to the boundary basedon
the Solonnikov’s H\"olderestimatefor$(1.1)-(1.4)[25],$$[28],$ $[29]$ (see [2,Theorem3.5]). Theuniquenessof$L^{\infty}$-solutions
follows from the
a
priori estimate(1.6) for$v_{0}=0$so
the limit$(v, q)$ is independent ofa
choiceof the sequence$\{v_{0,m}\}_{m=1}^{\infty}\subset C_{c,\sigma}^{\infty}.$
To state
a
result,letus
define solutions of$(1.1)-(1.4)$ for$v_{0}\in L_{\sigma}^{\infty}(\Omega)$ [$3$,Definition2.7].Definition 2.2 ($L^{\infty}$-solutions). Let$\Omega$ be
a
domain in $\mathbb{R}^{n},$ $n\geq 2$, with $\partial\Omega\neq\emptyset$.
Let $(v, \nabla q)\in$ $C^{2,1}(\Omega-\cross(0, T])\cross C(\overline{\Omega}\cross(0, T])$ satisfy $(1.1)-(1.3)$ and (1.4) for$v_{0}\in L_{\sigma}^{\infty}(\Omega)$ inthesense
that $v(\cdot, t)arrow\nu_{0}$weakly$-*$on $L^{\infty}(\Omega)$as $t\downarrow 0$.
We call $(v, q)$an$L^{\infty}-soluti\mathfrak{o}n$if(1.5)and$t^{1/2}d_{\Omega}(x)|\nabla q(x, t)|$ (2.3)
are
bounded in$\Omega\cross(0, T)$.Once
we
know theunique existenceof$L^{\infty}$-solutions,we
are
able toextend the Stokessemi-group
$S(t)$ : $v_{0}\mapsto v(\cdot, t),$$t\geq 0$, for$v_{0}\in L_{\sigma}^{\infty}$ togetherwith the estimate (1.6). The followingstatement
was
proved in [3, Theorem 3.2] for exterior domains and [1, Theorem 4.1.2] forperturbed half
spaces.
Theorem2.3. Let$\Omega$beanexterior domainin$\mathbb{R}^{n},$ $n\geq 2$, or aperturbed
half
spacein$\mathbb{R}^{n},$ $n\geq 3,$with$C^{3}$-boundary.
(i) (Uniqueexistence
of
$L^{\infty}$-solutions)For $v_{0}\in L_{\sigma}^{\infty}(\Omega)$, there existsa unique $L^{\infty}$-solution $(v, \nabla q)$satisfying (1.6)
for
anyfixed
$T_{0}$ withsome
constant$C$dependingonlyon$T_{0}$ and$\Omega.$(ii)(Analyticityon$L_{\sigma}^{\infty}$)
TheStokessemigroup$S(t)$ is uniquely extendableto$a(non-C_{0^{-}})$analyticsemigroup
on
$L_{\sigma}^{\infty}(\Omega)$.
Remark2.4(Continuityattimezero). Itisnaturaltorestrict$S(t)$ tothespace
ofuniformlycon-tinuousfunctions$BUC_{\sigma}(\Omega)$
so
that$S(t)$ isa
$C_{0}$-analyticsemigroupon
$BUC_{\sigma}(\Omega)$.
Let$BUC(\Omega)$be the
space
of alluniformly continuousfunctions in$\Omega$.
Define thespace
$BUC_{\sigma}(\Omega)$ by$BUC_{\sigma}(\Omega)=\{f\in BUC(\Omega)|divf=0$in$\Omega,$ $f=0$
on
$\partial\Omega\}.$Then, $S(t)$ is
a
$C_{0^{-}}($analytic) semigroupon
$BUC_{\sigma}(\Omega)$ at least when $\Omega$ isan
exteriordomain.Note that$C_{0,\sigma}(\Omega)\subset BUC_{\sigma}(\Omega)\subset L_{\sigma}^{\infty}(\Omega)$. When$\Omega$is bounded,the
space
$BUC_{\sigma}(\Omega)$ agrees withReferences
[1] K.Abe, The Stokes semigrouponnon-decaying spaces,Ph.D.thesis,the University of Tokyo,2013.
[2] K. Abe and Y. Giga, Analyticity
of
the Stokes semigroup inspacesof
boundedfunctions,ActaMath. 211(2013), 1$A6.$
[3] –,The$L^{\infty}$-Stokes semigroup in exteriordomains,J. Evol. Equ.,toappear.
[4] K.Abe, Y.Giga,and M.Hieber, Stokes resolvent estimatesinspacesofboundedfunctions, Hokkaido
Uni-versity Preprint Series in Mathematics(2012),no.1022.
[5] $H$.-O. Bae and B.Jin,ExistenceofstrongmildsolutionoftheNavier-Stokes equations in thehalfspacewith
nondecaying initialdata,J. KoreanMath.Soc.49(2012), $113-i38.$
[6] W. Desch,M.Hieber,and J. PrUss,$L^{\rho}$-theoryofthe Stokes equation inahalfspace,J. Evol.Equ. 1 (2001),
115-142.
[7] L.C.Evans,PartialDifferentialEquations, Amer.Math. Soc.,Providence. R.I.,2010.
[8] R.Farwig, H. Kozono,and H.Sohr,An $L^{q}$-approachtoStokes and Navier-Stokes equations ingeneral
do-mains,ActaMath.195(2005),$21arrow 53.$
[9] –, On theHelmholtzdecomposition ingeneralunboundeddomains,Arch. Math. (Basel)88 (2007),
239-248.
[10] –,On the Stokesoperatorin generalunboundeddomains,Hokkaido Math. J.38(2009), 111-136.
[11] M.Geissert,H.Heck,M.Hieber,andO.Sawada, Weak Neumann impliesStokes,J.Reine Angew. Math.669
(2012),75-100.
[12] B. Gidas and J. Spruck,$A$priori boundsforpositive solutionsofnonlinearelliptic equations,Comm.Partial
DifferentialEquations6(1981),883-901.
[13] Y.Giga,Analyticity ofthe semigroupgenerated by the Stokesoperatorin $L_{r}$spaces, Math. Z. 178(1981),
297-329.
[14] –,$A$boundforglobal solutionsofsemilinearheat equations,Comm. Math. Phys.103(1986),415-421.
[151 Y.Giga, S.Matsui,and Y.Shimizu,On estimates in Hardyspacesforthe Stokesflowina
half
space, Math.Z.231 (1999),383-396.
[16] Y. Giga and H. Miura, On vorticity directions nearsingularitiesforthe Navier-Stokesflows with infinite
energy, Comm.Math. Phys.303(2011),289-300.
[17] G.Koch,N.Nadirashvili,G. A. Seregin, and V.$Sver4k$,Liouville theoremsforthe Navier-Stokes equations
and applications, Acta Math.203(2009),83-105.
[18] P.Maremonti,Pointwiseasymptotic stabilityofsteady
fluid
motions, J.Math.FluidMech. 11 (2009), 348-382.[19] P.MaremontiandG.Stanita,On the nonstationaryStokes equations in half-space with continuous initialdata,
Zap. Nauchn. Sem. S.-Peterburg. Otdel. Mat. Inst. Steklov.(POMI)295(2003),no.Kraev. Zadachi Mat. Fiz.
$i$Smezh. Vopr. Teor. Funkts. 33, 118-167, 246(English, with Russiansummary); English transl.,J.Math.
Sci. (N.Y.) 127(2005),no.2, $1886-i914.$
[20] P.Pol\’a\v{c}ik,P. Quittner, and P. Souplet, Singularity and decay estimates in superlinear problems via
Liouville-typetheorems.$lI$.Parabolic equations, IndianaUniv. Math.J.56(2007), 879-908.
[21] P. Quittner and P. Souplet, Superlinear parabolic problems,Birkh\"auserAdvanced Texts: Basler Lehrb\"ucher.,
Birkh\"auserVerlag,Basel,2007.
[22] $G$.deRham,DifferentiableManifolds, Springer-Verlag,Berlin, 1984.
[23] J.Saal,TheStokesoperatorwithRobin boundaryconditions in solenoidal subspacesof$L^{1}(\mathbb{R}_{+}^{n})$ and$L^{\infty}(\mathbb{R}_{+}^{n})$,
[24] C. G. SimaderandH. Sohr, newapproachtotheHelmholtzdecomposition and the Neumann problem in
$L^{q}$-spacesforbounded and exteriordomains,Mathematical problems relating to theNavier-Stokes equation,
Ser. Adv. Math.Appl. Sci.,vol. 11,World Sci.Publ.,River Edge,$NJ$, 1992,pp. 1-35.
[25] V. A.Solonnikov,Estimatesforsolutionsofnonstationary Navier-Stokes equations, J. Soviet Math.8(1977),
467-529.
[26] –,Onnonstationary Stokes problem and Navier-Stokes problem inahalf-space with initial data
non-decreasingatinfinity, J. Math. Sci.(N.$Y$)114(2003), 1726-1740.Functiontheoryand applications.
[27] –,Estimatesforsolutionsofthe nonstationary Stokes problem in anisotropic Sobolevspaces and
esti-matesforthe resolventoftheStokesoperator,Uspekhi Mat. Nauk58(2003),123-156(Russian,with Russian
summary);Enghshtransl.,Russian Math. Surveys58(2003),331-365.
[28] –,WeightedSchauder estimatesforevolution Stokesproblem, Ann. Univ. Ferrara Sez. VII Sci. Mat.
52(2006), 137-172.
[29] –,Schauderestimatesforthe evolutionary generalized Stokes problem, Amer.Math. Soc. Transl. Ser.
2220(2007), 165-199.
KEN ABE
GraduateSchoolof Mathematical Sciences
TheUniversity of Tokyo
Komaba3-8-1,Meguro-ku, Toky$0153-8914$,JAPAN