Topics in Analysis: Fluid Dynamics and Related Equations

Subject associations
MAT 529
Term
Spring 2022
Instructors
Charles L. Fefferman
Registrar description

The course studies the Muskat equation, which governs the evolution of the interface between two fluids in a porous medium, e.g. oil and water in sand. In two dimensions, when the two fluids have the same viscosity but different densities, the problem reduces to a contour dynamics equation. When the interface is the graph of a function, a lot is known; but in the "turnover regime" in which a vertical line may meet the interface in more than one point, hard problems remain. The lectures explain the state of the art as of a few years ago, then present recent work of Jia Shi.