The inviscid limit of Navier-Stokes equations for vortex-wave data on $\mathbb{R}^2$

Abstract

We establish the inviscid limit of the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations on the whole plane $\mathbb{R}^2$ for initial data having vorticity as a superposition of point vortices and a regular component. In particular, this rigorously justifies the vortex-wave system from the physical Navier-Stokes flows in the vanishing viscosity limit, a model that was introduced by Marchioro and Pulvirenti in the early 90s to describe the dynamics of point vortices in a regular ambient vorticity background. The proof rests on the previous analysis of Gallay in his derivation of the vortex-point system.