Higher Order Convergence for the Sharp Interface Limit of 3D Navier--Stokes/Allen--Cahn Systems

Abstract

We show convergence of solutions to a Navier--Stokes/Allen--Cahn system as the interfacial thickness $\varepsilon>0$ tends to zero for well-prepared initial data as long as the limit system possesses a sufficiently smooth solution. The limit system consists of a two-phase Navier--Stokes system separated by a sharp interface in the presence of surface tension coupled to a convective mean curvature flow equation. In comparison to previous results we obtain improved convergence estimates for higher-order norms. These enable us to prove convergence in the case of three space dimensions and non-constant viscosity, which was unknown before. The convergence results relies crucially on uniform higher-order estimates for the associated linearized Navier--Stokes/Allen--Cahn system in suitably weighted $L^2$-Sobolev spaces. Here a novel problem-adapted weight proportional to the sum of $\varepsilon$ and the distance to the sharp interface of the limit, which gives improved and sharp estimates, is an important new ingredient. This approach can be potentially adapted to other sharp interface limits as well.