The nearly singular behavior of the 3D Navier-Stokes equations

Whether the 3D incompressible Navier-Stokes equations can develop a finite time singularity from smooth initial data is one of the most challenging problems in nonlinear PDEs. In this paper, we present some new numerical evidence that the 3D incompressible axisymmetric Navier-Stokes equations with smooth initial data of finite energy develop nearly singular solutions at the origin. This nearly singular behavior is induced by a potential finite time singularity of the 3D Euler equations that we reported in \cite{Hou-euler-2021}. One important feature of the potential Euler singularity is that the solution develops nearly self-similar scaling properties that are compatible with those of the 3D Navier-Stokes equations. We will present numerical evidence that the 3D Navier-Stokes equations develop nearly singular scaling properties with maximum vorticity increased by a factor of $10^7$. Moreover, the nearly self-similar profiles seem to be very stable to the small perturbation of the initial data. However, the 3D Navier-Stokes equations with our initial data do not develop a finite time singularity due to the development of a mild two-scale structure in the late stage, which eventually leads to viscous dominance over vortex stretching. To maintain the balance between the vortex stretching term and the diffusion term, we solve the 3D Navier-Stokes equations with a time-dependent viscosity roughly of order $O(|\log(T-t)|^{-3})$ in the late stage. We present strong numerical evidence that the 3D Navier-Stokes equations with such time-dependent viscosity develop a finite time singularity.