Eulerian dynamics with a commutator forcing II: flocking

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the long-term behavior of a class of one-dimensional Euler equations with a commutator forcing, demonstrating exponential velocity alignment and flocking for specific influence kernels, including bounded and singular types.

Contribution

It provides a rigorous quantification of fast flocking and velocity alignment in Euler systems with commutator forcing for both bounded and fractional Laplacian-based kernels.

Findings

Exponential decay of velocity gradients and curvature.

Exponential convergence of density to a traveling wave.

Fast flocking behavior in systems with influence kernels.

Abstract

We continue our study of one-dimensional class of Euler equations, introduced in \cite{ST2016}, driven by a forcing with a commutator structure of the form $[\aL_\phi,u](\rho)=\phi*(\rho u)- (\phi*\rho)u$, where $u$ is the velocity field and $\phi$ belongs to a rather general class of \emph{influence} or interaction kernels. In this paper we quantify the large-time behavior of such systems in terms of \emph{fast flocking} for two prototypical sub-classes of kernels: bounded positive $\phi$'s, and singular $\phi(r) = r^{-(1+\a)}$ of order $\alpha\in [1,2)$ associated with the action of the fractional Laplacian $\aL_\phi=-(-\partial_{xx})^{\alpha/2}$. Specifically, we prove fast velocity alignment as the velocity $u(\cdot,t)$ approaches a constant state, $u \to \bar{u}$, with exponentially decaying slope and curvature bounds $|u_x(\cdot,t)|_{\infty}+ |u_{xx}(\cdot,t)|_{\infty}\lesssim e^{-\d t}$. The alignment is accompanied by exponentially fast flocking of the density towards a fixed traveling state $\rho(\cdot,t) - {\rho_{\infty}}(x - \bar{u} t) \rightarrow 0$.