English

Leapfrogging Kelvin waves

Fluid Dynamics 2016-12-14 v2 Other Condensed Matter

Abstract

Two vortex rings can form a localized configuration whereby they continually pass through one another in an alternating fashion. This phenomenon is called leapfrogging. Using parameters suitable for superfluid helium-4, we describe a recurrence phenomenon that is similar to leapfrogging, which occurs for two coaxial straight vortex filaments with the same Kelvin wave mode. For small-amplitude Kelvin waves we demonstrate that our full Biot-Savart simulations closely follow predictions obtained from a simpified model that provides an analytical approximation developed for nearly parallel vortices. Our results are also relevant to thin-cored helical vortices in classical fluids.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1603.06403,
  title  = {Leapfrogging Kelvin waves},
  author = {N. Hietala and R. Hänninen and H. Salman and C. F. Barenghi},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1603.06403},
  year   = {2016}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-22T13:15:10.983Z