Linear homentropic acoustic equations Created 2026-09-29 Updated 2026-10-06
For perturbations about a uniform fluid of density , the linearized continuity equation, momentum equation, and homentropic pressure perturbation relation are
For irrotational flow , they imply and .
The divergence is , while the scalar vorticity is . The flow is therefore incompressible flow and irrotational flow. Integrating the streamfunction equations gives
The time dependence must be retained: no time-independent function represents this unsteady field for every . At the streamlines are , with the coordinate axes as separatrices. Their arrows point towards increasing and decreasing , as shown below.
A pathline solves the material ODEs, giving
For , elimination of time yields
If , the pathline stays on the axis and the parametric expression remains valid; it cannot in general be written as a single-valued along that vertical trajectory. For , the path is : it initially descends, reaches its minimum , then rises. Unlike a frozen streamline, it records the time-varying flow.
Figure 1.
Frozen saddle streamlines at time zero and the material path through (1,1)
.
Irrotational flow permits , and incompressible flow imposes , hence . In the laboratory frame, the no-penetration condition at the translating sphere is .
For separation of variables, take the angular factor , which satisfies . The radial equation is
with solutions and . Rest at infinity excludes the term. The normal boundary condition fixes the remaining coefficient, giving the potential flow around a translating sphere
There is no azimuthal velocity. With fluid density , the kinetic energy is
The angular integral is , and the radial integral is , so . Since and , . Thus the added mass of a sphere is .
During a fall through , gravity does work and buoyancy does work . Starting from rest, conservation of energy gives
Consequently . The mass cancels: the reduced speed comes from both buoyancy and the fluid's added mass.
Write the conservative body force per unit mass as . For a fluid of constant density , the Euler equations for an inviscid fluid and the incompressible flow condition are
Using part (a), these become
For irrotational flow, locally choose a velocity potential with . Then , so the unsteady Bernoulli integral is
The constant is spatially uniform on a connected region where the velocity potential is defined; its time dependence can be absorbed into the additive time-dependent gauge of . A global single-valued velocity potential requires an appropriate topological condition, such as a simply connected domain; without it, the integral is locally valid. In a connected steady irrotational region, directly gives one spatial Bernoulli constant even without choosing a global potential.
In cylindrical coordinates, the transverse velocity is , so its contribution to the circulation is . The vertical contribution is , the differential of an antiderivative of , and therefore has zero integral around any closed curve. If is the oriented winding number of the curve's projection about the origin, then
In particular, a single positive winding gives ; reversing orientation reverses the sign. The nonzero circulation is compatible with irrotational flow because the domain is not simply connected. For , an enclosing curve cannot bound a surface contained entirely in the domain to which Stokes theorem would apply.
Use the standard ideal-fluid assumptions of incompressible flow, inviscid flow, gravity , and no surface tension. Irrotational flow gives in each layer, and incompressibility gives Laplace equation
The rigid-wall boundary conditions are at and at . At the moving interface, each fluid has the same normal velocity as the interface:
The dynamic condition is continuity of pressure, at . Bernoulli equation in each fluid reads . Choosing the potential gauges to subtract a common reference pressure, the interface condition becomes
Tangential velocities need not agree across an inviscid interface.
Let the free surface be at and take the Newtonian gravitational potential to vanish at infinity. Mass conservation fixes . The enclosed mass is , and hydrostatic equilibrium requires . With vacuum outside, , giving
The pressure is zero outside. A prescribed constant external pressure would simply add that constant to .
The bulk Eulerian and Lagrangian fluid perturbations obey because the mass density is uniform and the Lagrangian displacement has zero divergence. The linearized Euler momentum equation in the interior is
Taking the curl gives . Thus every nonzero-frequency normal mode has an irrotational flow displacement; the simply connected space formed by the interior admits and incompressibility gives the Laplace equation . For a regular center, one spherical harmonic component is , with .
It is essential to retain the surface gravity perturbation of a uniform-density sphere. Although the bulk mass density perturbation is zero, the displaced density discontinuity gives
The Poisson equation implies that is continuous and its outward radial derivative has the jump
Using regularity at the center and decay at infinity, write
The derivative jump is , so .
Integrating the bulk Euler momentum equation gives for . At the free surface the Lagrangian pressure perturbation vanishes:
Combining these relations yields the Kelvin stellar mode frequency
The choices of are degenerate because of spherical symmetry. For , is a linear combination of coordinates in a Cartesian coordinate system, so is a constant displacement: the zero frequency is rigid translation of the whole isolated body. Such a translation has no restoring force. The constant potential generates no displacement; a radial breathing motion is excluded by incompressibility and a regular center.
The printed irrotational assertion needs the nonzero-frequency qualification, or restriction to the potential incompressible stellar surface modes. It is false for all neutral displacements: has zero divergence, zero normal displacement at the surface, and , so it is a zero-frequency displacement, but . This does not change the Kelvin stellar mode spectrum just derived.
Linearity of Stokes flow and rotational symmetry, including reflection in mathematics invariance of the spherical geometry, determine the possible rigid motions before any calculation. Translation is a polar vector; its linear dependence on a single vector must be . A traceless second-rank tensor cannot produce a polar vector by an isotropic linear map: tensor contraction with the identity matrix vanishes and tensor contraction with the totally antisymmetric tensor vanishes because is a symmetric second-rank tensor. Angular velocity is an axial vector. Neither nor a symmetric can produce one by an isotropic linear map. Products such as are excluded by Linearity of Stokes flow. Thus .
Use the Unscaled Papkovich–Neuber representation, with harmonic functions and :
Indeed and because each potential is a harmonic function. Put and . The decaying harmonic functions with the necessary angular dependence are , and . The last is a harmonic function precisely because . A Stokeslet is excluded by the force-free condition, and a rotlet by the torque-free condition. Try
The resulting Stokes flow is
At , the coefficient of fixes ; the remaining constant vector gives . In the mode, matching gives and . Therefore the complete two-mode tensorial squirmer flow is
The boundary condition is satisfied in the laboratory frame, so the Stokes flow tends to zero at infinity. The potential dipole in the mode gives an irrotational flow and decays as ; the leading mode is a stresslet, decaying as . Neither carries a net force or torque. Direct surface integral averaging with the surface slip velocity formula gives the same translation, providing an independent check. Uniqueness of Stokes flow then identifies this decaying solution.