Nonlocal Stokes equation with relaxation on the divergence free equation

In this paper, we consider a new nonlocal approximation to the linear Stokes system with periodic boundary conditions in two and three dimensional spaces . A relaxation term is added to the equation of nonlocal divergence free equation, which is reminiscent to the relaxation of local Stokes equation with small artificial compressibility. Our analysis shows that the well-posedness of the nonlocal system can be established under some mild assumptions on the kernel of nonlocal interactions. Furthermore, the new nonlocal system converges to the conventional, local Stokes system in second order as the horizon parameter of the nonlocal interaction goes to zero. The study provides more theoretical understanding to some numerical methods, such as smoothed particle hydrodynamics, for simulating incompressible viscous flows.