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OP-3488Status unassessedPartial differential equations

Breakdown scenario for the Navier–Stokes equations on \(\mathbb{R}^3\)

TheoremDB P9260 · Candidate awaiting source review

Inferred from the community field; finer classification has not been reviewed.

Source candidate · not reviewedAs of 2026-09-08Source & evidence ↓

Problem statement

Let ν>0\nu > 0 be a fixed viscosity constant. A vector field u0:R3→R3u_0 : \mathbb{R}^3 \to \mathbb{R}^3 satisfies the decaying initial velocity condition if it is smooth (C∞C^\infty), divergence-free (∇⋅u0=0\nabla \cdot u_0 = 0), and all derivatives of u0u_0 decay faster than any polynomial at infinity: for every derivative order m∈Nm \in \mathbb{N} and every decay rate K∈RK \in \mathbb{R}, there exists a constant C∈RC \in \mathbb{R} such that ∥∂mu0(x)∥≤C/(1+∥x∥)K\|\partial^m u_0(x)\| \leq C/(1 + \|x\|)^K for all x∈R3x \in \mathbb{R}^3. A function f:R3×[0,∞)→R3f : \mathbb{R}^3 \times [0,\infty) \to \mathbb{R}^3 satisfies the decaying force condition if it is smooth on R3×[0,∞)\mathbb{R}^3 \times [0,\infty) and all derivatives of ff decay faster than any polynomial in both space and time: for every m∈Nm \in \mathbb{N} and K∈RK \in \mathbb{R}, there exists C∈RC \in \mathbb{R} such that ∥∂x,tmf(x,t)∥≤C/(1+∥x∥+t)K\|\partial^m_{x,t} f(x,t)\| \leq C/(1 + \|x\| + t)^K for all x∈R3x \in \mathbb{R}^3 and t≥0t \geq 0. A pair of functions (v,p)(v,p) with v:R3×[0,∞)→R3v : \mathbb{R}^3 \times [0,\infty) \to \mathbb{R}^3 and p:R3×[0,∞)→Rp : \mathbb{R}^3 \times [0,\infty) \to \mathbb{R} is a global smooth solution with finite energy for initial data u0u_0 and force ff if: (i) vv and pp are smooth on R3×[0,∞)\mathbb{R}^3 \times [0,\infty); (ii) v(⋅,t)v(\cdot, t) is square-integrable for each t≥0t \geq 0 and the kinetic energy ∫R3∥v(x,t)∥2 dx\int_{\mathbb{R}^3} \|v(x,t)\|^2 \, dx remains uniformly bounded for all t≥0t \geq 0; (iii) the incompressibility condition ∇⋅v(⋅,t)=0\nabla \cdot v(\cdot, t) = 0 holds for all t≥0t \geq 0; (iv) the initial condition v(x,0)=u0(x)v(x,0) = u_0(x) holds for all x∈R3x \in \mathbb{R}^3; and (v) the Navier–Stokes equation ∂tv+(v⋅∇)v=νΔv−∇p+f\partial_t v + (v \cdot \nabla)v = \nu \Delta v - \nabla p + f holds for all x∈R3x \in \mathbb{R}^3 and t≥0t \geq 0. Does there exist an initial velocity field u0u_0 satisfying the decaying initial velocity condition and a force ff satisfying the decaying force condition such that no pair (v,p)(v,p) is a global smooth solution with finite energy for this data?

Lean 4

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Formal statement

Lean 4
theorem navier_stokes_breakdown_R3 (nu : ℝ) (hnu : nu > 0) :
    ∃ (u₀ : ℝ³ → ℝ³) (f : ℝ³ → ℝ → ℝ³),
    InitialVelocityConditionDecay u₀ ∧ ForceConditionDecay f ∧
    ¬ (∃ v p, NavierStokesExistenceAndSmoothnessRn nu u₀ f v p)

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Progress & source assessment

Source-reported assessment, retrieved 8 September 2026. Frontier Science has not independently reviewed this status.

Open. No signed Lean verification is attached to this problem or its selected resolution.

This record is in the source backlog; its novelty and unresolved status have not passed source review.

References
  1. [1]TheoremDB P9260 link
  2. [2]Source formal statement (not locally verified) link

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