The simplest solutions to the Euler equations (1.1) for which the pressure vanishes identically are those representing the motion of lines parallel to a fixed direction r moving in the same direction (each line with an independent, given, constant velocity). Are there many other solutions to this problem? If yes, is there a simple characterization of all the initial data (volume Ω occupied by the fluid at time t = 0 and initial velocity u 0 (x), x ∈ Ω) that gives rise to the general solutions? In this paper we show that the answer to both questions is positive. We prove, in particular, that there is a natural correspondence between solutions in R 2 of this problem and (Cartesian pieces of) developable surfaces in R 3 . See Theorem 3.
Mathematics Subject Classification (2000). 35Q35, 35L60, 35B99.