Boundary value problems and optimal boundary control for the Navier-Stokes system: The two-dimensional case

We study optimal boundary control problems for the two-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations in an unbounded domain. Control is effected through the Dirichlet boundary condition and is sought in a subset of the trace space of velocity fields with minimal regularity satisfying the energy estimates. An objective of interest is the drag functional. We first establish three important results for inhomogeneous boundary value problems for the Navier-Stokes equations; namely, we identify the trace space for the velocity fields possessing finite energy, we prove the existence of a solution for the Navier-Stokes equations with boundary data belonging to the trace space, and we identify the space in which the stress vector (along the boundary) of admissible solutions is well defined. Then, we prove the existence of an optimal solution over the control set. Finally, we justify the use of Lagrange multiplier principles, derive an optimality system of equations in the weak sense from which optimal states and controls may be determined, and prove that the optimality system of equations satisfies in appropriate senses a system of partial differential equations with boundary values.