Fluid Equations Failing at Last

Researchers have spent centuries looking for a scenario in which the Euler fluid equations fail. Now a mathematician has finally found one.

"Researchers have spent centuries looking for a scenario in which the Euler fluid equations fail. Now a mathematician has finally found one.

"Mathematicians have suspected for years that under specific circumstances, the Euler equations fail. But they’ve been unable to identify an exact scenario in which this failure occurs. Until now.

The equations are an idealized mathematical description of how fluids move. Within the confines of certain assumptions, they model the way ripples propagate on a pond or how molasses oozes out of a jar. They should be able to describe the motion of any fluid under any circumstances — and for more than two centuries, they have."

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