R Boundedness, Maximal Regularity and Free Boundary Problems for the Navier-Stokes Equations

Abstract: In this lecture note, we study free boundary problems for the Navier-Stokes equations with and without surface tension. The local well-posedness, the global well-posedness, and asymptotics of solutions as time goes to infinity are studied in the Lp in time and Lq in space framework. The tool in proving the local well-posedness is the maximal Lp-Lq regularity for the Stokes equations with non-homogeneous free boundary conditions. The approach here of proving the maximal Lp-Lq regularity is based on the R bounded solution operators of the generalized resolvent problem for the Stokes equations with non-homogeneous free boundary conditions and the Weis operator valued Fourier multiplier. The key issue of proving the global well-posedness for the strong solutions is the decay properties of Stokes semigroup, which are derived by spectral analysis of the Stokes operator in the bulk space and the Laplace-Beltrami operator on the boundary. In this lecture note, we study the following two cases: (1) a bounded domain with surface tension and (2) an exterior domain without surface tension. In particular, in studying the exterior domain case, it is essential to choose different exponents p and q. Because, in the unbounded domain case, we can obtain only polynomial decay in suitable Lq norms in space, and so to guarantee the integrability of Lp norm of solutions in time, it is necessary to have freedom to choose an exponent with respect to time variable.