PIPages
Labs

Camillo De Lellis

Princeton University, NJ·Mathematics & Statistics

The equations describing fluid motion are centuries old. Yet mathematicians still cannot fully explain some basic behaviors of their solutions.

Fields

Mathematics & Statistics

Physics

Topics

partial differential equations

fluid dynamics

incompressible flow

Grants
1 known grant, through Jul 2027

What they work on

  1. Prove the existence of Navier-Stokes solutions whose kinetic energy dissipation stays positive as viscosity goes to zero, without adding spurious oscillations to the initial data, giving rigorous examples of anomalous dissipation.
  2. Investigate whether smooth solutions of the incompressible Navier-Stokes and Euler equations can blow up, developing singularities in finite time.
  3. Study simpler model cases, such as anomalous dissipation driven by forcing terms and deformed Navier-Stokes equations within a larger family, as steps toward the full problems.

More about the research

A central puzzle concerns turbulence. Experiments show that turbulent flows keep losing kinetic energy even as the fluid's viscosity (its internal friction) shrinks toward zero. But smooth solutions of the zero-viscosity equations can be proven to conserve energy. This project starts from that contradiction to study the regularity (smoothness), uniqueness and stability of fluid flow solutions.

Why it matters

This is basic mathematical research. Rigorous results on energy loss and possible blow-up in fluid equations would help explain turbulence, a phenomenon common throughout science and engineering. It could eventually inform how scientists understand and model turbulent fluid flows.

Known grants

From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.

Regular and Singular Incompressible Fluid Flows

NSF · Aug 2024 – Jul 2027

Closest labs

Theodore Drivas

Stony Brook University, NY·Mathematics & Statistics·Early-career

Analyze the long-time behavior of the two-dimensional Euler equations to explain how ideal fluids form lasting, hurricane-like vortices through vortex merging and mixing.

Zachary Bradshaw

University of Arkansas, AR·Mathematics & Statistics

Analyze the dynamic stability of multi-celled vortex solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations, such as tornado-like models with an updraft surrounding a central downdraft.

Dionyssios Mantzavinos

University of Kansas, KS·Mathematics & Statistics

Develop analytical tools to establish existence, uniqueness and stability of solutions to nonlinear partial differential equations posed in bounded domains in two or more spatial dimensions.

The school

Princeton University: 26 labs on PI Pages, $559M a year on research, 403 research doctorates a year.

More about Princeton University

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