Convexity and transport for the isentropic Euler equations on the sphere

Gordon Blower

Published 2020-11-21Version 1

The paper considers the Euler system of PDE on a smooth compact Riemannian manifold of positive curvature without boundary, and the sphere ${\mathbb{S}}^2$ in particular. The paper interprets the Euler equations as a transport problem for the fluid density under dynamics governed by the gradient of the internal energy of the fluid. The paper develops the notion of transport cost in the tangent bundle, and compares its properties with the Wasserstein transportation cost on the manifold. There are applications to the discrete approximation to the Euler equations in the style of Gangbo and Wesdickenberg ({\sl Comm. Partial Diff. Equations} {\bf 34} (2009), 1041-1073), except that the analysis is heavily dependent upon the curvature of the underlying manifold. The internal energy is assumed to satisfy convexity conditions that allow analysis via $\Phi$-entropy entropy-production inequalities, and the results apply to the power law $\rho^\gamma$ where $1<\gamma<3/2$, which includes the case of a diatomic gas. The paper proves existence of weak solutions of the continuity equation, and gives a sufficient condition for existence of weak solutions to the acceleration equation.