Weak solutions of Moffatt's magnetic relaxation equations

Overview & Synopsis

We investigate the global-in-time existence and uniqueness of weak solutions for a family of equations introduced by Moffatt to model magnetic relaxation. These equations are topology-preserving and admit all stationary solutions to the classical incompressible Euler equations as steady states. In the work of Beekie, Friedlander and Vicol, global regularity results have been established for initial magnetic field B0 ∈ Hs(Td)(s > d/2+1) when the regularization parameter γ in the equations satisfies γ > γc := d/2+1. Global regularity for γ ∈ [0, γc] is left as an open problem, as well as the existence of weak solutions with rough initial data for any γ ≥ 0. In this paper, we show that for any solenoidal magnetic field B0 ∈ L2(Td) there exists a unique global weak solution when γ > γc. Moreover, the solution can propagate higher-order Sobolev regularity. These results hold true for the borderline case γ = γc only if B0 ∈ L2+(Td). Finally, we discuss Moffatt’s magnetic relaxation procedure. To prove the existence and uniqueness of weak solutions, we establish a key compactness result for an active vector equation and provide some estimates for fractional Laplacian after the Lagrangian change of variables, which may have independent interest.