Dissipative models generalizing the 2D Navier-Stokes and the surface quasi-geostrophic equations

Abstract

This paper is devoted to the global (in time) regularity problem for a family of active scalar equations with fractional dissipation. Each component of the velocity field $u$ is determined by the active scalar $θ$ through $\mathcal{R} Λ^{-1} P(Λ) θ$ where $\mathcal{R}$ denotes a Riesz transform, $Λ=(-Δ)^{1/2}$ and $P(Λ)$ represents a family of Fourier multiplier operators. The 2D Navier-Stokes vorticity equations correspond to the special case $P(Λ)=I$ while the surface quasi-geostrophic (SQG) equation to $P(Λ) =Λ$. We obtain the global regularity for a class of equations for which $P(Λ)$ and the fractional power of the dissipative Laplacian are required to satisfy an explicit condition. In particular, the active scalar equations with any fractional dissipation and with $P(Λ)= (\log(I-Δ))^γ$ for any $γ>0$ are globally regular.