Liouville-type theorems for the new Taylor--Couette flow of the stationary Navier--Stokes equations

Abstract

We study the stationary Navier--Stokes equations in the region between two rotating concentric cylinders. We first prove that, under the small Reynolds number, if the fluid is axisymmetric and if its velocity is sufficiently small in the $L^\infty$-norm, then it is necessarily a generalized Taylor-Couette flow which is a new exact solution of the Navier--Stokes equations. If, in addition, the associated pressure is bounded or periodic in the $z$-axis, then it coincides with the well-known canonical Taylor-Couette flow. Next, we give a certain bound of the Reynolds number and the $L^\infty$-norm of the velocity such as the fluid is indeed, necessarily axisymmetric. It is clarified that smallness of Reynolds number of the fluid in the two rotating concentric cylinders governs both axisymmetry and the new exact form of the Taylor-Couette flow.