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Let $n$ point from the sphere into the exterior fluid, so the surface position relative to the centre is $r=an$. The physical surface velocity isFree rotation means the actual body is torque-free: the total hydrodynamic torque $T={\int }_{S}an\times (\sigma \cdot n)dS$ vanishes. Use the auxiliary rotating sphere in Stokes flow with arbitrary $\hat{\Omega }$, boundary velocity $\hat{u}=\hat{\Omega }\times an$ and the given traction $\hat{\sigma }\cdot n=-3\mu \hat{\Omega }\times n$. The auxiliary flow is the decaying exterior rotation of a sphere, not a rigid rotation of the entire infinite fluid.

The left-hand cross-work in the Lorentz reciprocal theorem for Stokes flow isThe other cross-work becomesThe spherical integral identities areUsing $(\Omega \times n)\cdot (\hat{\Omega }\times n)=\Omega \cdot \hat{\Omega }-(\Omega \cdot n)(\hat{\Omega }\cdot n)$, the rotational contribution is $-8\pi \mu a^3\Omega \cdot \hat{\Omega }$. The slip contribution is $-3\mu \hat{\Omega }\cdot {\int }_{S}n\times u^{\prime }dS$. Since $\hat{\Omega }$ is arbitrary, the torque-free rotation of a spherical squirmer satisfiesThe viscosity cancels, as expected for a kinematically prescribed slip in a linear viscous problem. If the freely moving sphere also has a translation $U$, its added cross-work is zero because the auxiliary rotating sphere has zero total force, ${\int }_S\hat{\sigma }\cdot ndS=0$. Thus translation does not alter this rotational formula. Without the torque-free assumption an external-torque contribution would have to be retained.