Global Smooth Solutions to the 2-D Inhomogeneous Navier-Stokes Equations with Variable Viscosity

Under the assumptions that the initial density ρ0 is close enough to 1 and ρ0 -- 1∈ H^s＋1（R^2）, u0 ∈ H^s（R^2） ∩ H^-ε（R^2） for s 〉 2 and 0 〈 ε 〈 1, the authors prove the global existence and uniqueness of smooth solutions to the 2-D inhomogeneous Navier-Stokes equations with the viscous coefficient depending on the density of the fluid. Furthermore, the L^2 decay rate of the velocity field is obtained.