Singularity formation for Prandtl's equations

Abstract

We consider Prandtl's equations for the impulsively started disk and follow the process of the formation of the singularity in the complex plane using the singularity tracking method. We classify Van Dommelen and Shen's singularity as a cubic root singularity. We introduce a class of initial data which have a dipole singularity in the complex plane. These data are uniformly bounded in $H^1$ and lead to an earlier singularity formation. The presence of a small viscosity in the streamwise direction changes the behavior of the singularities.