On Classical Solutions to the Cauchy Problem of the Two-Dimensional Barotropic Compressible Navier-Stokes Equations with Vacuum

This paper concerns the Cauchy problem of the barotropic compressible Navier-Stokes equations on the whole two-dimensional space with vacuum as far field density. In particular, the initial density can have compact support. When the shear and the bulk viscosities are a positive constant and a power function of the density respectively, it is proved that the two-dimensional Cauchy problem of the compressible Navier-Stokes equations admits a unique local strong solution provided the initial density decays not too slow at infinity. Moreover, if the initial data satisfy some additional regularity and compatibility conditions, the strong solution becomes a classical one.