Uniqueness and stability of steady vortex rings for 3D incompressible Euler equation

TL;DR

This paper establishes the uniqueness and nonlinear stability of a specific family of classical vortex rings in 3D Euler equations, using variational principles and asymptotic analysis, marking a significant advancement in understanding vortex ring stability.

Contribution

It introduces a general stability criterion for vortex rings, proves the uniqueness of a special class of stable vortex rings, and provides the first family of nonlinear stable classical vortex ring solutions.

Findings

Proved stability criteria for vortex rings in rearrangement classes.

Established uniqueness of vortex rings with small cross-section.

Identified a family of nonlinear stable classical vortex rings.

Abstract

In this paper, we are concerned with the uniqueness and nonlinear stability of vortex rings for the 3D Euler equation. By utilizing Arnold 's variational principle for steady states of Euler equations and concentrated compactness method introduced by P. L. Lions, we first establish a general stability criteria for vortex rings in rearrangement classes, which allows us to reduce the stability analysis of certain vortex rings to the problem of their uniqueness. Subsequently, we prove the uniqueness of a special family of vortex rings with a small cross-section and polynomial type distribution function. These vortex rings correspond to global classical solutions to the 3D Euler equation and have been shown to exist by many celebrate works. The proof is achieved by studying carefully asymptotic behaviors of vortex rings as they tend to a circular filament and applying local Pohozaev identities. Consequently, we provide the first family of nonlinear stable classical vortex ring solutions to the 3D Euler equation.