Non-Uniqueness and Inadmissibility of the Vanishing Viscosity Limit of the Passive Scalar Transport Equation

Abstract

We study selection by vanishing viscosity for the transport of a passive scalar $f(x,t)\in\mathbb{R}$ advected by a bounded, divergence-free vector field $u(x,t)\in\mathbb{R}^2$. This is described by the initial value problem to the PDE $\frac{\partial f}{\partial t} + \nabla\cdot (u f) = 0$, or with positive viscosity/diffusivity $\nu>0$, to the PDE $\frac{\partial f}{\partial t} + \nabla\cdot (u f) -\nu\Delta f = 0$. We demonstrate the failure of the vanishing viscosity limit to select (a) unique solutions or (b) physically admissible solutions in the sense of non-increasing energy/entropy.