Noise prevents singularities in linear transport equations

A stochastic linear transport equation with multiplicative noise is considered and the question of no-blowup is investigated. The drift is assumed only integrable to a certain power. Opposite to the deterministic case where smooth initial conditions may develop discontinuities, we prove that a certain Sobolev degree of regularity is maintained, which implies Hölder continuity of solutions. The proof is based on a careful analysis of the associated stochastic flow of characteristics. © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.