Translation of Walter Noll’s “Derivation of the Fundamental Equations of Continuum Thermodynamics from Statistical Mechanics”

This article represents a translation of the original paper, “Die Herleitung der Grundgleichungen der Thermomechanik der Kontinua aus der Statistischen Mechanik”, which was written by Walter Noll and appeared in the Journal of Rational Mechanics and Analysis 4 (1955), 627–646. In the original paper, Noll addressed and analyzed the seminal paper of Irving & Kirkwood, published five years earlier, on “The statistical mechanical theory of transport processes. IV, The Equations of Hydrodynamics.” Noll gave new interpretations and provided a firm setting for ideas advanced by Irving & Kirkwood that clearly and directly related to the basic principles of continuum mechanics. This translation aims to expose the important contribution of Noll to a wider community of researchers at a time when the atomistic modeling of material behavior is being advanced. Noll’s use of elementary mathematics to discover physical effects, to explain physical concepts, and to draw conclusions of a physical nature is exhibited. Noll’s paper emerged from a report that he presented in a seminar at Indiana University in the summer of 1954. The seminar was organized by Clifford Truesdell, whose inspiration Noll gratefully acknowledged.     

Hyperbolicity of the Nonlinear Models of Maxwell’s Equations

We consider the class of nonlinear models of electromagnetism that has been described by Coleman & Dill [7]. A model is completely determined by its energy density W(B,D). Viewing the electromagnetic field (B,D) as a 3×2 matrix, we show that polyconvexity of W implies the local well-posedness of the Cauchy problem within smooth functions of class H^s with s>1+d/2. The method follows that designed by Dafermos in his book [9] in the context of nonlinear elasticity. We use the fact that B×D is a (vectorial, non-convex) entropy, and we enlarge the system from 6 to 9 equations. The resulting system admits an entropy (actually the energy) that is convex. Since the energy conservation law does not derive from the system of conservation laws itself (Faradays and Ampères laws), but also needs the compatibility relations divB=divD=0 (the latter may be relaxed in order to take into account electric charges), the energy density is not an entropy in the classical sense. Thus the system cannot be symmetrized, strictly speaking. However, we show that the structure is close enough to symmetrizability, so that the standard estimates still hold true.     

The Navier–Stokes Equations Under a Unilateral Boundary Condition of Signorini’s Type

We propose a new outflow boundary condition, a unilateral condition of Signorini’s type, for the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations. The condition is a generalization of the standard free-traction condition. Its variational formulation is given by a variational inequality. We also consider a penalty approximation, a kind of the Robin condition, to deduce a suitable formulation for numerical computations. Under those conditions, we can obtain energy inequalities that are key features for numerical computations. The main contribution of this paper is to establish the well-posedness of the Navier–Stokes equations under those boundary conditions. Particularly, we prove the unique existence of strong solutions of Ladyzhenskaya’s class using the standard Galerkin’s method. For the proof of the existence of pressures, however, we offer a new method of analysis.     

Hadamard Variational Formula for the Green’s Function of the Boundary Value Problem on the Stokes Equations

For every ${\varepsilon > 0}$ , we consider the Green’s matrix ${G_{\varepsilon}(x, y)}$ of the Stokes equations describing the motion of incompressible fluids in a bounded domain ${\Omega_{\varepsilon} \subset \mathbb{R}^d}$ , which is a family of perturbation of domains from ${\Omega\equiv \Omega_0}$ with the smooth boundary ${\partial\Omega}$ . Assuming the volume preserving property, that is, ${\mbox{vol.}\Omega_{\varepsilon} = \mbox{vol.}\Omega}$ for all ${\varepsilon > 0}$ , we give an explicit representation formula for ${\delta G(x, y) \equiv \lim_{\varepsilon\to +0}\varepsilon^{-1}(G_{\varepsilon}(x, y) - G_0(x, y))}$ in terms of the boundary integral on ${\partial \Omega}$ of ${G_0(x, y)}$ . Our result may be regarded as a classical Hadamard variational formula for the Green’s functions of the elliptic boundary value problems.     

Piecewise Continuous Almost Automorphic Functions and Favard’s Theorems for Impulsive Differential Equations in Honor of Russell Johnson

Journal of Dynamics and Differential Equations - We define piecewise continuous almost automorphic (p.c.a.a.) functions in the manners of Bochner, Bohr and Levitan, respectively, to describe almost...     

Extensions of Serrin’s Uniqueness and Regularity Conditions for the Navier–Stokes Equations

Consider a smooth bounded domain ${\Omega \subseteq {\mathbb{R}}^3}$ , a time interval [0, T), 0?<?T?≤?∞, and a weak solution u of the Navier–Stokes system. Our aim is to develop several new sufficient conditions on u yielding uniqueness and/or regularity. Based on semigroup properties of the Stokes operator we obtain that the local left-hand Serrin condition for each ${t\in (0,T)}$ is sufficient for the regularity of u. Somehow optimal conditions are obtained in terms of Besov spaces. In particular we obtain such properties under the limiting Serrin condition ${u \in L_{\rm loc}^\infty([0,T);L^3(\Omega))}$ . The complete regularity under this condition has been shown recently for bounded domains using some additional assumptions in particular on the pressure. Our result avoids such assumptions but yields global uniqueness and the right-hand regularity at each time when ${u \in L_{\rm loc}^\infty([0,T);L^3(\Omega))}$ or when ${u(t)\in L^3(\Omega)}$ pointwise and u satisfies the energy equality. In the last section we obtain uniqueness and right-hand regularity for completely general domains.     

Developable Surfaces as Generators of the “Isobaric Solutions” to the Euler Equations

The simplest solutions to the Euler equations (1.1) for which the pressure vanishes identically are those representing the motion of lines parallel to a fixed direction moving in the same direction (each line with an independent, given, constant velocity). Are there many other solutions to this problem? If yes, is there a simple characterization of all the initial data (volume occupied by the fluid at time t = 0 and initial velocity that gives rise to the general solutions? In this paper we show that the answer to both questions is positive. We prove, in particular, that there is a natural correspondence between solutions in R² of this problem and (Cartesian pieces of) developable surfaces in R³. See Theorem 3.     

Existence of a Solution “in the Large” for Ocean Dynamics Equations

For the system of equations describing the large-scale ocean dynamics, an existence and uniqueness theorem is proved “in the large”. This system is obtained from the 3D Navier–Stokes equations by changing the equation for the vertical velocity component u ₃ under the assumption of smallness of a domain in z-direction, and a nonlinear equation for the density function ρ is added. More precisely, it is proved that for an arbitrary time interval [0, T], any viscosity coefficients and any initial conditions

Resonant-Based Identification of the Poisson’s Ratio of Orthotropic Materials

The resonant-based identification of the in-plane elastic properties of orthotropic materials implies the estimation of four principal elastic parameters: E ₁ , E ₂ , G ₁₂ , and ν ₁₂ . The two elastic moduli and the shear modulus can easily be derived from the resonant frequencies of the flexural and torsional vibration modes, respectively. The identification of the Poisson’s ratio, however, is much more challenging, since most frequencies are not sufficiently sensitive to it. The present work addresses this problem by determining the test specimen specifications that create the optimal conditions for the identification of the Poisson’s ratio. Two methods are suggested for the determination of the Poisson’s ratio of orthotropic materials: the first employs the resonant frequencies of a plate-shaped specimen, while the second uses the resonant frequencies of a set of beam-shaped specimens. Both methods are experimentally validated using a stainless steel sheet.     

A Unified Approach to Regularity Problems for the 3D Navier-Stokes and Euler Equations: the Use of Kolmogorov’s Dissipation Range

Motivated by Kolmogorov’s theory of turbulence we present a unified approach to the regularity problems for the 3D Navier-Stokes and Euler equations. We introduce a dissipation wavenumber ${\Lambda(t)}$ that separates low modes where the Euler dynamics is predominant from the high modes where the viscous forces take over. Then using an indifferent to the viscosity technique we obtain a new regularity criterion which is weaker than every Ladyzhenskaya-Prodi-Serrin condition in the viscous case, and reduces to the Beale-Kato-Majda criterion in the inviscid case. In the viscous case we prove that Leray-Hopf solutions are regular provided ${\Lambda \in L^{5/2}}$ , which improves our previous ${\Lambda \in L^\infty}$ condition. We also show that ${\Lambda \in L^1}$ for all Leray-Hopf solutions. Finally, we prove that Leray-Hopf solutions are regular when the time-averaged spatial intermittency is small, i.e., close to Kolmogorov’s regime.     

Investigation of generalized Fick’s and Fourier’s laws in the second-grade fluid flow

The second-grade fluid flow due to a rotating porous stretchable disk is modeled and analyzed. A porous medium is characterized by the Darcy relation. The heat and mass transport are characterized through Cattaneo-Christov double diffusions. The thermal and solutal stratifications at the surface are also accounted. The relevant nonlinear ordinary differential systems after using appropriate transformations are solved for the solutions with the homotopy analysis method (HAM). The effects of various involved variables on the temperature, velocity, concentration, skin friction, mass transfer rate, and heat transfer rate are discussed through graphs. From the obtained results, decreasing tendencies for the radial, axial, and tangential velocities are observed. Temperature is a decreasing function of the Reynolds number, thermal relaxation parameter, and Prandtl number. Moreover, the mass diffusivity decreases with the Schmidt number.     

Simulating tornado-like flows: the effect of the simulator’s geometry

Meccanica - Within the wind engineering community, a series of physical simulators of differing geometries have been used to investigate the flow-field of tornado-like vortices. This paper examines...