The Fluid Stretches Itself: A Vorticity Feedback Loop Toward Blowup

stevenstrogatz · x · 2026-09-09

Strogatz highlights the wildest part of the Navier–Stokes problem: the fluid can do the stretching itself. One part of the flow stretches a vortex, intensifying its vorticity; the intensified vorticity alters the flow, which can produce still more stretching—a self-reinforcing feedback loop. This self-sustaining mechanism is a candidate route for driving vorticity to blow up in finite time in 3D.

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