Local regularity of weak solutions of the hypodissipative Navier-Stokes equations

TL;DR

This paper develops a new local analysis framework for weak solutions of 3D hypodissipative Navier-Stokes equations with fractional dissipation, leading to improved partial regularity results and bounds on the singular set.

Contribution

It introduces a novel bootstrapping scheme with localized commutator estimates for fractional dissipation, advancing the understanding of weak solution regularity in fractional Navier-Stokes equations.

Findings

Established local regularity of weak solutions in fractional dissipation regime

Derived a new pressure estimate involving fractional Laplacian

Improved bounds on the box-counting dimension of the singular set

Abstract

We consider the 3D incompressible hypodissipative Navier-Stokes equations, when the dissipation is given as a fractional Laplacian $(-\Delta )^s$ for $s\in (\frac34,1)$, and we provide a new bootstrapping scheme that makes it possible to analyse weak solutions locally in space-time. This includes several homogeneous Kato-Ponce type commutator estimates which we localize in space, and which seems applicable to other parabolic systems with fractional dissipation. We also provide a new estimate on the pressure, $\|(-\Delta)^s p \|_{\mathcal{H}^1}\lesssim \| (-\Delta )^{\frac s2} u \|^2_{L^2}$. We apply our main result to prove that any suitable weak solution $u$ satisfies $\nabla^n u \in L^{p,\infty }_{\mathrm{loc}}(\mathbb{R}^3\times(0,\infty))$ for $p=\frac{2(3s-1)}{n+2s-1}$, $n=1,2$. As a corollary of our local regularity theorem, we improve the partial regularity result of Tang-Yu [Comm. Math. Phys., 334(30), 2015, pp. 1455--1482], and obtain an estimate on the box-counting dimension of the singular set $S$, $d_B(S\cap \{t\geq t_0 \} )\leq \frac13 (15-2s-8s^2) $ for every $t_0>0$.