Search arXivSearch

arXiv · 2604.26660

Global weak solutions to a diffuse-interface model for quasi-incompressible two-phase flows with unmatched densities and singular potential

Abstract

We study a thermodynamically consistent diffuse-interface model that describes the motion of two macroscopically immiscible, incompressible, and viscous Newtonian fluids with unmatched densities. This model is compatible with continuum mixture theory. It adopts a mass-averaged (barycentric) velocity so that the two-phase flow is quasi-incompressible: the velocity is no longer divergence-free, and the pressure enters the equation of the chemical potential. For the initial-boundary value problem in $\mathbb{T}^3$ with a class of physically relevant singular free energy densities, we prove the existence of global-in-time weak solutions. The proof relies on a suitable reduction of the original system to a Korteweg-type fluid model combined with a two-layer approximation, together with delicate estimates for the mass density and the phase-field variable inspired by the celebrated Bresch-Desjardins entropy. A key observation is that capillarity at the free interface provides a damping effect on the density evolution. For the limiting procedure, we derive delicate tail estimates to exclude possible concentrations of the singular potential, since no integrability of the pressure is available \textit{a priori}. This work appears to be the first existence result for the Navier-Stokes/Cahn-Hilliard type system with unmatched densities and mass-averaged velocity without spatial regularization.

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Mingwen Fei, Xiang Fei, Yadong Liu, Hao Wu. 2026-04-29. Global weak solutions to a diffuse-interface model for quasi-incompressible two-phase flows with unmatched densities and singular potential. https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.26660

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

Blow-Up Dynamics for the $L^2$ critical case of the $2$D Zakharov-Kuznetsov equation

We study blow-up dynamics for the $L^2$-critical cubic Zakharov--Kuznetsov equation in two dimensions, \[ \partial_tu+\partial_{x_1}(Δu+u^3)=0 \qquad\text{on }\mathbb R^2. \] For a class of localized $H^1$ perturbations of the ground state $Q$, we establish a trichotomy near the soliton manifold: exit from a small $L^2$-tube, global asymptotic stability, or finite-time blow-up. In the stable blow-up regime, the solution concentrates a single bubble and \[ λ(t)\sim \ell_0(T-t)^{1/(3-c)}, \] where $\ell_0>0$ depends on the initial datum and $c\in(1,2)$ is an explicit constant determined by the transverse tail of the first-order approximate profile. Consequently, \[ \|\nabla u(t)\|_{L^2} \sim \frac{\|\nabla Q\|_{L^2}} {\ell_0(T-t)^{1/(3-c)}}. \] After subtraction of the concentrating soliton, the radiation converges strongly in $L^p(\mathbb R^2)$ for every $2\leq p<\infty$ to a common nonzero profile $u^*$, while \[ u^*\notin H^s(\mathbb R^2) \qquad\text{for every }s\geq\frac c2. \] The stable blow-up branch is open in the relative $H^1$ topology of the localized class. Finally, every non-soliton datum in this class with non-positive energy blows up in finite time. Interval-arithmetic computer-assisted proofs certify the numerical inputs to the virial coercivity argument. They also yield a rigorous enclosure of $c$, justifying the polynomial moment of order $21$ imposed on the initial data.

math.AP

Propagation of wave packets close to conical intersections

In this paper, we study the propagation of wave packets close to conical intersections with respect to a system of two Schr{ö}dinger equations presenting a codimension 2 crossing. We focus on the dynamics that occur when the wave packets pass through an area close to the crossing, and our main results provide an explicit formula for the outgoing wave packet in terms of the incoming one, with a complete description of its phase and of the classical trajectories it follows, including a drift.

math.AP

A Volterra Calculus for Lie Groupoids

A pseudodifferential Volterra calculus for inverting parabolic differential equations on Lie groupoids is introduced. This enables the study of fundamental solutions of various cases of heat flows on singular manifolds with corners with non-resonant boundary indicial symbols, such as the $b$-manifolds, as well as other geometric bisection covariant heat flows. We also establish the short time asymptotic expansion for the heat kernel of a positive, elliptic differential operator on a Lie groupoid that acts on suitable Sobolev Hilbert modules and is positive definite with respect to the appropriate $L^2$ inner product.

math.AP