The 3D Incompressible Euler Equations with a Passive Scalar: A Road to Blow-Up?

The three-dimensional incompressible Euler equations with a passive scalar θ are considered in a smooth domain \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$\varOmega\subset \mathbb{R}^{3}$\end{document} with no-normal-flow boundary conditions \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$\boldsymbol{u}\cdot\hat{\boldsymbol{n}}|_{\partial\varOmega} = 0$\end{document}. It is shown that smooth solutions blow up in a finite time if a null (zero) point develops in the vector B=∇q×∇θ, provided B has no null points initially: \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$\boldsymbol{\omega} = \operatorname{curl}\boldsymbol {u}$\end{document} is the vorticity and q=ω⋅∇θ is a potential vorticity. The presence of the passive scalar concentration θ is an essential component of this criterion in detecting the formation of a singularity. The problem is discussed in the light of a kinematic result by Graham and Henyey (Phys. Fluids 12:744–746, 2000) on the non-existence of Clebsch potentials in the neighbourhood of null points.