We investigate numerically the question of blowup in finite time for the ‘‘swirling flow’’ of the three-dimensional incompressible Euler equations. Using rotational symmetry, the Euler equations reduce to a two-dimensional problem which is numerically solved by finite differences. The elliptic equation relating vorticity to velocity is solved with the multigrid method. Calculations were performed with 896×640 mesh points.

• Received 26 September 1991

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.67.3511