On the norm equivalence of Lyapunov exponents for regularizing linear evolution equations

Abstract

We consider the top Lyapunov exponent associated to a dissipative linear evolution equation posed on a separable Hilbert or Banach space. In many applications in partial differential equations, such equations are often posed on a scale of nonequivalent spaces mitigating, e.g., integrability ($L^p$) or differentiability ($W^{s, p}$). In contrast to finite dimensions, the Lyapunov exponent could apriori depend on the choice of norm used. In this paper we show that under quite general conditions, the Lyapunov exponent of a cocycle of compact linear operators is independent of the norm used. We apply this result to two important problems from fluid mechanics: the enhanced dissipation rate for the advection diffusion equation with ergodic velocity field; and the Lyapunov exponent for the 2d Navier-Stokes equations with stochastic or periodic forcing.