A sparse resolution of the DiPerna-Majda gap problem for $2$D Euler equations

Abstract

A central question which originates in the celebrated work in the 1980's of DiPerna and Majda asks what is the optimal decay $f > 0$ such that uniform rates $|\omega|(Q) \leq f(|Q|)$ of the vorticity maximal functions guarantee strong convergence without concentrations of approximate solutions to energy-conserving weak solutions of the $2$D Euler equations with vortex sheet initial data. A famous result of Majda (1993) shows $f(r) = [\log (1/r)]^{-1/2}$, $r<1/2$, as the optimal decay for \emph{distinguished} sign vortex sheets. In the general setting of \emph{mixed} sign vortex sheets, DiPerna and Majda (1987) established $f(r) = [\log (1/r)]^{-\alpha}$ with $\alpha > 1$ as a sufficient condition for the lack of concentrations, while the expected gap $\alpha \in (1/2, 1]$ remains as an open question. In this paper we resolve the DiPerna-Majda $2$D gap problem: In striking contrast to the well-known case of distinguished sign vortex sheets, we identify $f(r) = [\log (1/r)]^{-1}$ as the optimal regularity for mixed sign vortex sheets that rules out concentrations. For the proof, we propose a novel method to construct explicitly solutions with mixed sign to the $2$D Euler equations in such a way that wild behaviour creates within the relevant geometry of \emph{sparse} cubes (i.e., these cubes are not necessarily pairwise disjoint, but their possible overlappings can be controlled in a sharp fashion). Such a strategy is inspired by the recent work of the first author and Milman \cite{DM} where strong connections between energy conservation and sparseness are established.