On the existence of weak solutions in the context of multidimensional incompressible fluid dynamics

Abstract

We define the concept of energy-variational solutions for the Navier--Stokes and Euler equations. This concept is shown to be equivalent to weak solutions with energy conservation. Via a standard Galerkin discretization, we prove the existence of energy-variational solutions and thus weak solutions in any space dimension for the Navier--Stokes equations. In the limit of vanishing viscosity the same assertions are deduced for the incompressible Euler system. Via the selection criterion of maximal dissipation we deduce well-posedness for these equations.