Put . On the inner supersonic branch, the equation from part (d) is
Its asymptotic expansion as begins
Taking the positive square root gives
Since and ,
The leading term is the free-fall speed ; the logarithmic term is the first pressure correction to the inner Isothermal Bondi accretion flow.
Introduce
Because the speed is , write
The momentum equations give
Use an asymptotic expansion
The zeroth-order inertial oscillation is
At first order,
and integration with the initial conditions gives
Therefore
The periodic terms describe a slightly distorted clockwise circle. The secular term in is a westward drift with velocity
This beta drift of an inertial oscillation occurs because the Coriolis parameter, and hence the turning rate, is larger on the poleward half of the orbit than on its equatorward half. A trajectory sketch therefore consists of clockwise loops whose centers move steadily westward; the parcel starts at the westernmost point of its first loop and initially travels northward.
Figure 1.
Westward beta drift of inertial loops
. The first-order beta-plane trajectory forms slightly distorted clockwise loops. Their centers follow the dashed westward path because the Coriolis turning rate is stronger on the poleward side.
Write
The quasi-steady model is the coupled pair
For a thin shell, is close to . A first-order asymptotic expansion gives
and therefore
To leading order , so an initially freezing shell grows linearly:
For a thick shell the conductive correction in the surface balance is small. The radiative equilibrium temperature and its first correction are
Thus, with ,
When is negligible over an intermediate range, this ordinary differential equation gives the square-root growth law
Retaining , its implicit solution is
Consequently a sketch of starts approximately linearly, crosses to square-root growth, and approaches with exponential decay of . A shell placed above instead thins because the basal oceanic heat flux exceeds the conductive loss.
A real simple pole is not locally integrable in the ordinary improper sense. Its symmetric Cauchy principal value defines a tempered distribution. For the transform convention, contour indentation or sine integration gives the displayed nondecaying oscillatory contribution. Upper and lower boundary-value prescriptions instead change it by before transforming. A pole prescription must therefore be stated before claiming a Fourier asymptotic expansion.
At second order, the displaced-boundary Navier slip boundary condition gives at . Its mean shear is zero in a bounded half-space flow, so the Navier-slip Taylor swimming sheet dimensionless speed is . The sheet travels opposite to the wave. This fixed-slip asymptotic expansion predicts a speed enhancement factor .
Stokes phenomenon Created 2026-10-05 Updated 2026-10-06
Exponentially small contributions can change their asymptotic representation when a complex parameter crosses a Stokes direction. An all-orders asymptotic expansion in inverse powers alone does not resolve these terms.
Two-loop inverse-coupling logarithmic remainder Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-07
For the asymptotically free two-loop running coupling , with , let , , and . A choice of the scale gives the exact implicit equation on the ultraviolet branch. Its expansion is
The remainder after the first two terms is therefore , and is not when . A fixed rescaling of cannot change the coefficient of . This distinction matters when quoting errors for asymptotic expansions.