Maximal $L^1$ regularity for solutions to inhomogeneous incompressible Navier-Stokes equations

This paper is devoted to the maximal $L^1$ regularity and asymptotic behavior for solutions to the inhomogeneous incompressible Navier-Stokes equations under a scaling-invariant smallness assumption on the initial velocity. We obtain a new global $L^1$-in-time estimate for the Lipschitz seminorm of the velocity field without any smallness assumption on the initial density fluctuation. In the derivation of this estimate, we study the maximal $L^1$ regularity for a linear Stokes system with variable coefficients. The analysis tools are a use of the semigroup generated by a generalized Stokes operator to characterize some Besov norms and a new gradient estimate for a class of second-order elliptic equations of divergence form. Our method might be used to study some other issues arising from incompressible or compressible viscous fluids.