A Liouville Theorem for the Axially-symmetric Navier-Stokes Equations

Zhen Lei, Qi S. Zhang

Published 2010-11-23, updated 2010-11-27Version 2

Let $v(x, t)= v^r e_r + v^\theta e_\theta + v^z e_z$ be a solution to the three-dimensional incompressible axially-symmetric Navier-Stokes equations. Denote by $b = v^r e_r + v^z e_z$ the radial-axial vector field. Under a general scaling invariant condition on $b$, we prove that the quantity $\Gamma = r v^\theta$ is H\"older continuous at $r = 0$, $t = 0$. As an application, we give a partial proof of a conjecture on Liouville property by Koch-Nadirashvili-Seregin-Sverak in \cite{KNSS} and Seregin-Sverak in \cite{SS}. As another application, we prove that if $b \in L^\infty([0, T], BMO^{-1})$, then $v$ is regular. This provides an answer to an open question raised by Koch and Tataru in \cite{KochTataru} about the uniqueness and regularity of Navier-Stokes equations in the axially-symmetric case.