Dipole similarity solution of a draining porous current ($h\sim t^{-1/2},x_f\sim t^{1/4}$)

The conserved first moment of a draining porous current fixes $\alpha +2\beta =0$ in a self-similar solution $h=a{t}^{\alpha }f(x/(d{t}^{\beta }))$. The Boussinesq equation for an unconfined aquifer supplies $\alpha =2\beta -1$, giving $\alpha =-1/2$, $\beta =1/4$. Normalize $\kappa a=d^2$ and the nose at $\eta =1$. Then $-f/2-\eta f^{\prime }/4=(f{f}^{\prime }{)}^{\prime }$ is solved byThe square-root outlet has finite drainage flux and the nose has zero flux. This is a particular similarity solution and its scaling family, not an exact description of arbitrary initial data.

For the dipole similarity solution of a draining porous current, $V=\varphi \int hdx=\varphi ad{t}^{-1/4}/18$. Thus $\dot{V}/V=-1/(4t)$. A shifted similarity origin replaces $t$ by $t+t_0$. Neither a positive rate nor a rate $-1/(2t)$ is compatible with this two-dimensional first-moment-conserving profile.