Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2002 / ib / Paper 3 / 8C / Solution

Kelvin's circulation theorem states that a smooth inviscid barotropic fluid subject to a conservative body force preserves circulation around every closed material curve. Write the pressure term as $\nabla w$ with $dw=dp/\rho$, and the body force per mass as $-\nabla \Phi$. Then the Euler equations give $D\mathbf{u}/Dt=-\nabla (w+\Phi )$. For a moving parametrization $\mathbf{x}(s,t)$ with ${\partial }_t\mathbf{x}=\mathbf{u}$,The last integral is the increment of a single-valued scalar around a closed curve. ConsequentlyConstant density is a special barotropic case with $w=p/\rho$. Viscosity, nonconservative forcing or baroclinic pressure gradients can invalidate this conservation law; the exterior-cylinder conclusions use the smooth inviscid hypotheses.