Sharp conditions for energy balance in two-dimensional incompressible ideal flow with external force

Smooth solutions of the forced incompressible Euler equations satisfy an energy balance, where the rate-of-change in time of the kinetic energy equals the work done by the force per unit time. Interesting phenomena such as turbulence are closely linked with rough solutions which may exhibit inviscid dissipation, or, in other words, for which energy balance does not hold. This article provides a characterization of energy balance for physically realizable weak solutions of the forced incompressible Euler equations, i. e. solutions which are obtained in the limit of vanishing viscosity. More precisely, we show that, in the two-dimensional periodic setting, strong convergence of the zero-viscosity limit is both necessary and sufficient for energy balance of the limiting solution, under suitable conditions on the external force. As a consequence, we prove energy balance for a general class of solutions with initial vorticity belonging to rearrangement-invariant spaces, and going beyond Onsager's critical regularity.