Take positive to mean counterclockwise circulation. A line vortex at has complex potential of a two-dimensional potential flow . The method of images imposes the no-penetration boundary condition on the real axis by placing an image line vortex of strength at . Thus
For real , the numerator and denominator have equal modulus, so the streamfunction is
The real axis is therefore a streamline. The image line vortex lies outside the mapped fluid region, while the complex velocity
decays as . This selects the flow due to the line vortex and the boundary, without superposing an imposed background velocity field.
The physical complex potential of a two-dimensional potential flow is . Applying the chain rule gives the complex velocity
The physical velocity is . A useful equivalent expression follows from
Factoring the image expression in the same way makes the terms cancel, leaving
This represents the physical line vortex at , an image line vortex of the same strength at , and image point vortices of opposite strength at and . All three image locations are outside the fluid region. Both boundary pieces inherit the constant streamfunction of the real axis in the mapped complex plane.
Use for the complex potential of a two-dimensional potential flow, so . The Milne-Thomson circle theorem says that if is an incident complex potential of a two-dimensional potential flow whose singularities lie outside , then
makes a streamline. Indeed, on that circle , so is real and the stream function is constant. This imposes the no-penetration boundary condition.
For the two-dimensional potential doublet, put and , where is real. The theorem gives
Up to an additive constant, this is equivalently
The method of images has placed the image two-dimensional potential doublet at , inside the obstacle. We use the solution with zero added circulation and no imposed far-field flow; the original doublet is the only singularity in the liquid.
The complex potential of a two-dimensional potential flow gives
At a stagnation point, . For , taking the two square-root alternatives gives
Therefore
The denominators are nonzero because . Moreover
so both stagnation points satisfy . They are distinct: equality would require . Neither is a singularity of . Conversely, the numerator of is a quadratic polynomial with nonzero leading coefficient, so these are all its finite zeros. Thus there are exactly two boundary stagnation points and none in the open fluid region. If , the flow instead vanishes everywhere, which is the degenerate exception to the assertion.
For the simple shear flow, the vertical vorticity is
For , this is not an irrotational flow. A complex potential of a two-dimensional potential flow , analytic in the flow region, has complex velocity . The Cauchy-Riemann equations imply both incompressibility and zero vorticity, so this shear has no such complex potential. It does have a Cartesian streamfunction, . In the degenerate case , the resting fluid has a constant complex potential.
Taking the imaginary part of the complex potential gives the streamfunction
The corresponding velocity field is
Put . Then and . Thus the streamlines are the previous rectangular hyperbolas rotated clockwise by . Their separatrices have angles ; the extension axis is and the compression axis is perpendicular to it. The middle panel of the figure shows this rotation.
For pure advection, a marked fluid element obeys
Consequently the dye circle becomes an ellipse with semiaxes and . Its area is
Stretching in one principal direction exactly compensates compression in the other. Equivalently the flow-map Jacobian determinant is one, as required by incompressibility. Negligible diffusion is needed to regard the sharp dye boundary as a material curve.
The coefficient of the growing term is fixed by the far-field complex potential: . On , the no-penetration boundary condition makes the cylinder a streamline, so the imaginary part of must be constant. Choosing the two terms to be complex conjugates makes that constant zero, giving
This is the zero-circulation solution, also obtained by the Milne-Thomson circle theorem. Impermeability and the leading far field alone permit an additional circulation term ; the requested algebraic form implicitly selects . No no-slip boundary condition is imposed on an inviscid flow.
The streamfunction in polar coordinates is
It gives and
The liquid still exerts normal pressure on each surface element even though tangential viscous traction is absent. For this steady flow with zero vorticity, the Bernoulli equation has one constant throughout the connected fluid region:
There is no finite uniform far-field pressure to substitute for , because this straining velocity field grows with radius. Taking outward from the cylinder, the fluid force per unit axial width is
Indeed while : diametrically opposite elements cancel exactly. Zero resultant force does not mean zero local pressure or zero deformation tendency.
Use the Joukowski map with , in particular its intended range . On the original circle,
Define the exterior inverse
where the holomorphic square root is chosen so that at infinity. Then is the branch mapping the exterior of the ellipse to . Composition of the zero-circulation complex potential from part 4(c) with this inverse gives
The ellipse is a streamline because its inverse image is the circle, and at infinity. An additive constant in the complex potential has no effect on the velocity.
The transformed complex velocity obeys the chain rule:
Since , the denominator is nonzero on and outside . The four stagnation points therefore come from
Their physical locations are
They all lie on the ellipse, and their positions are independent of , which only sets the overall speed scale.
The printed restriction that is real and is insufficient literally: satisfies it but makes at in the exterior, so there is no exterior conformal map of the claimed type; the stated minor semiaxis would also be negative. The intended positive-parameter range, or more generally , is needed for the above solution. The reference to a sphere in the source is a wording slip: the geometry is two-dimensional flow around the mapped cylinder's elliptical cross-section.
Writing ,
Therefore
The vector field points radially away from , with magnitude inversely proportional to distance from that point. It diverges on approach to that boundary point and tends to zero far away. This is the radial potential flow described by the logarithmic complex potential of a two-dimensional potential flow.
Write the complex potential of a two-dimensional potential flow as . Its complex velocity is . Here
so the far-field motion has velocity and speed . In polar coordinates the stream function, shifted by a harmless constant, is
It is zero on , proving the cylinder is a streamline.
Stagnation points are zeros of , hence roots of . Put . The two roots are
Both have modulus and are distinct. Their angles satisfy , namely and . The tangential velocity on the cylinder is , confirming the same zeros. Streamlines are level curves of ; the positive circulation places both stagnation points on the upper side and increases the flow speed below the cylinder.
Figure 1.
Streamlines and the two surface stagnation points for positive subcritical circulation
. Details.
The stream function gives and . Its scalar vorticity is
For this does not vanish on any nonempty open region of the plane. A holomorphic complex potential of a two-dimensional potential flow would produce an irrotational flow there. Equivalently, its imaginary part would be a harmonic function, whereas . Thus no complex potential exists on any nonempty open region for this flow; vanishing vorticity only along the vertical line does not provide a two-dimensional domain.
The complex potential of a two-dimensional potential flow is , so
For , a nonzero level is
Thus the streamlines are circles tangent to the horizontal axis at the excluded singular origin, with centers on the vertical axis. Each circle has the origin removed. The zero level is the horizontal axis without the origin, whose positive and negative rays are separate streamlines. Since is nonzero away from the origin, no other stagnation points intervene. For the flow vanishes everywhere off the origin, so the circle description is replaced by the degenerate zero-velocity field.
Figure 1.
Streamlines of a planar doublet
. Circles tangent at the excluded origin and the two zero-level horizontal rays; the drawing uses positive doublet strength. Details.
Start from the uniform-flow complex potential of a two-dimensional potential flow . Milne-Thomson's circle theorem adds the image doublet , yielding constant stream function on . Add a line vortex with positive counterclockwise circulation :
Indeed, on the uniform-flow and doublet terms sum to the real number , while the vortex has imaginary part , also constant. Thus the cylinder is a streamline and satisfies the impermeability condition. The vortex velocity is in the counterclockwise direction. Although the potential is multivalued when , its velocity is single-valued.
Differentiate and locate the coefficient of in the square:
For the counterclockwise contour in the printed Blasius force theorem, the residue theorem gives . Consequently
These are force components per unit cylinder length; with the stated circulation convention the lift is downward for positive .
For a planar incompressible flow, a stream function satisfies , . A velocity potential satisfies , where the flow is irrotational; such a potential exists locally, and globally on a simply connected nonsingular region. The irrotational flow condition is . Where both exist, the Cauchy-Riemann equations make the complex potential analytic with .
For the logarithmic potential, write . Then
The outward volume flux per unit span across a circle is . Hence it is a line source of strength . The potential may use local logarithm branches; its velocity is single-valued away from the source.
By superposition, the full flow has
For positive and , the stagnation points are
They are real, one upstream of the source and one downstream of the sink. Away from the singularities, streamlines are level curves of
The zero level through the two stagnation points contains an upper and a lower separating curve, symmetric about the real axis and about . Together they bound a Rankine oval. Flow inside goes from source to sink; the external stream divides around this oval and tends to horizontal flow far away. This also specifies the sketch for every positive parameter ratio; the figure illustrates one ratio.
Figure 1.
Source–sink flow in a uniform stream
. Arrows follow the velocity; the bold separating streamline passes through both stagnation points. The illustrated ratio is . Details.
Use the convention that positive vortex strength is counterclockwise and complex velocity is . A complex potential of a two-dimensional potential flow for the superposed uniform flow and two point vortices is
Local choices of logarithm branch change no velocity. Differentiation gives
For nonzero vortex strength and , its two zeros are
The number under the square root is nonzero, so these are distinct stagnation points, neither at a vortex.
A free point vortex moves with the velocity induced by the other vortex and the background, omitting its own singular field. At either vortex, the other induces vertical velocity , while the background contributes . Their velocities are therefore equal. Their separation stays , making this induced velocity constant for all time. Both travel along parallel straight lines with
A point vortex of circulation at contributes the complex potential of a two-dimensional potential flow with the stated convention. The method of images places a vortex of the opposite circulation at below the wall, outside the fluid domain. Superposition with the stagnation flow gives
For real , the distances and agree. The two vortex contributions to the stream function are and , which cancel. The background stream function is also zero there, so remains an impermeable streamline. The image changes the boundary condition without introducing another singularity in the upper fluid region.
Use the complex potential of a two-dimensional potential flow convention , for which . A positive circulation is counterclockwise. The two point vortices and the two-dimensional point sink give
Branch choices change additive constants, not the local velocity field. A vortex is transported by the nonsingular velocity due to the other vortex and the sink; its own singular term is omitted. At this gives
The other vortex follows by symmetry. Put , with and . Multiplication by gives
For , integration yields
Equivalently, with ,
The curves obey , so they are logarithmic spirals. At , both vortices reach the sink at the origin. For nonzero circulation they make infinitely many turns in that finite time; for zero circulation they approach radially. The point-vortex evolution becomes singular at capture, so the formula does not define a regular continuation through the event.
Figure 1.
Two equal vortices spiral symmetrically into a central sink and reach it at a finite capture time
. Details.
Use the convention that a positive vortex has counterclockwise circulation, with complex potential of a two-dimensional potential flow . To make both coordinate axes streamlines, place images of strength at and , and strength at . The resulting potential is
Additive constants and consistent logarithm branches do not affect velocity. The quotient has unit modulus on either wall, so the streamfunction is constant there and there is no normal flow.
The vortex moves with the regular fluid velocity after removing its own singular field. Since , evaluating the three image contributions at gives exactly
The overall minus sign and the two reflected-term minus signs here agree with the source scan.
Write , with . Taking real and imaginary parts yields
Dividing gives , which integrates to
Put . The first-quadrant branch has vertical and horizontal asymptotes and . Its motion is to the right and downward: from large near the vertical asymptote toward large near the horizontal one. Both coordinates stay strictly positive, so no wall is crossed.
Figure 1.
The three image vortices and the decreasing first-quadrant vortex path
. Details.
The Milne-Thomson circle theorem says that, when is a complex potential analytic inside and on and all its flow singularities are outside, the potential outside an impermeable circle is
The reflected expression is analytic in the exterior: conjugating a local power series turns its argument into . It creates only interior image singularities. On we have , so is real. The stream function is therefore constant on the circle, which is the impermeability condition. At infinity the reflected term is , so it changes the velocity by and leaves the imposed far flow unchanged. These observations prove the theorem, up to the irrelevant additive potential constant and with no extra circulation introduced.
With , , and unit radius, it gives
The image dipole is at with moment ; writing the image term this way changes only an additive constant.