English

On the Lamb Vector and the Hydrodynamic Charge

Classical Physics 2007-05-23 v2

Abstract

This work is an attempt to test the concept of hydrodynamic charge (analogous to the electric charge in Electromagnetism) in the simple case of a coherent structure such as the Burgers vortex. We provide experimental measurements of both the so-called Lamb vector and its divergence (the charge) by two-dimensional Particle Image Velocimetry. In addition, we perform a Helmholtz-Hodge decomposition of the Lamb vector in order to explore its topological features. We compare the charge with the well-known Q criterion in order to assess its interest in detecting and characterizing coherent structure. Usefulness of this concept in studies of vortex dynamics is demonstrated.

Cite

@article{arxiv.physics/0512165,
  title  = {On the Lamb Vector and the Hydrodynamic Charge},
  author = {Germain Rousseaux and Shahar Seifer and Victor Steinberg and Alexander Wiebel},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:physics/0512165},
  year   = {2007}
}

Comments

16 pages