We study the boundary layer theory for slightly viscous stationary flows forced by an imposed slip velocity at the boundary. According to the theory of Prandtl (1904) and Batchelor (1956), any Euler solution arising in this limit and consisting of a single "eddy" must have constant vorticity. Feynman and Lagerstrom (1956) gave a procedure to select the value of this vorticity by demanding a necessary condition for the existence of a periodic Prandtl boundary layer description. We will show that this condition is also sufficient for the existence of a periodic boundary layer described by the Prandtl equations. This is joint work with S. Iyer and T. Nguyen.

In this talk I will present a recent result showing that for all solutions of the 2d Euler equations with initial vorticity with finite Sobolev smoothness then an initial data dependent norm of the associated Lagrangian flow blows up in infinite time like $t^{\frac{1}{3}}$. This initial data dependent norm quantifies the exact $L^2$ decay of the Fourier transform of the solution. This adapted norm turns out to be the exact quantity that controls a low to high frequency cascade which I will then show to be the quantitative phenomenon behind a microlocal generalized Lyapunov function constructed by Shnirelman.