Remarkable localized integral identities for $3D$ compressible Euler flow and the double-null framework

Abstract

We derive new, localized geometric integral identities for solutions to the $3D$ compressible Euler equations under an arbitrary equation of state when the sound speed is positive. The identities are coercive in the first derivatives of the specific vorticity and the second derivatives of the entropy, and the error terms exhibit remarkable regularity and null structures. Our framework allows one to simultaneously unleash the full power of the geometric vectorfield method for both the wave- and transport- parts of the flow on compact regions. In particular, the integral identities yield localized control over one additional derivative of the vorticity and entropy compared to standard results, assuming that the initial data enjoy the same gain. Similar results hold for the solution's higher derivatives. We derive the identities in detail for two classes of spacetime regions that frequently arise in PDE applications: i) compact spacetime regions that are globally hyperbolic with respect to the acoustical metric and ii) compact regions covered by double-acoustically null foliations. Our results have implications for the geometry and regularity of solutions, the formation of shocks, the structure of the maximal classical development of the data, and for controlling solutions whose state along a pair of intersecting characteristic hypersurfaces is known. Our analysis relies on a recent new formulation of the compressible Euler equations that splits the flow into a geometric wave-part coupled to a div-curl-transport part. Our main new contribution is our analysis of the positive co-dimension, spacelike boundary integrals that arise in the div-curl identities. By exploiting interplay between the elliptic and hyperbolic parts of the new formulation, we observe several crucial cancellations, which in total show that the boundary terms have a good sign.