We characterize, using commuting zero-flux homologies, those volume-preserving vector fields on a 3-manifold that are steady solutions of the Euler equations for some Riemannian metric. This result extends Sullivan’s homological characterization of geodesible flows in the volume-preserving case. As an application, we show that steady Euler flows cannot be constructed using plugs (as in Wilson’s or Kuperberg’s constructions). Analogous results in higher dimensions are also proved.

We consider the dynamical properties of $C^{\infty }$-variations of the flow on an aperiodic Kuperberg plug $\mathbb{K}$. Our main result is that there exists a smooth one-parameter family of plugs $\mathbb{K}_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D716}}$ for $\unicode[STIX]{x1D716}\in (-a,a)$ and $a<1$, such that: (1) the plug $\mathbb{K}_{0}=\mathbb{K}$ is a generic Kuperberg plug; (2) for $\unicode[STIX]{x1D716}<0$, the flow in the plug $\mathbb{K}_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D716}}$ has two periodic orbits that bound an invariant cylinder, all other orbits of the flow are wandering, and the flow has topological entropy zero; (3) for $\unicode[STIX]{x1D716}>0$, the flow in the plug $\mathbb{K}_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D716}}$ has positive topological entropy, and an abundance of periodic orbits.

In this paper we deal with the existence of periodic orbits of geodesible vector fields on closed 3-manifolds. A vector field is geodesible if there exists a Riemannian metric on the ambient manifold making its orbits geodesics. In particular, Reeb vector fields and vector fields that admit a global section are geodesible. We will classify the closed 3-manifolds that admit aperiodic volume-preserving Cω geodesible vector fields, and prove the existence of periodic orbits for Cω geodesible vector fields (not volume preserving), when the 3-manifold is not a torus bundle over the circle. We will also prove the existence of periodic orbits of C2 geodesible vector fields on some closed 3-manifolds.