Sphere velocity as a surface average of ambient Stokes flow ($\mathbf{V}=⟨{\mathbf{u}}_{\infty }{⟩}_{S_a}+{\mathbf{F}}_{\mathrm{ext}}/(6\pi \mu a)$)

For a no-slip sphere in a smooth ambient Stokes flow whose body forces lie outside the sphere and are unchanged by insertion, use the translating sphere as a reciprocal auxiliary field. Its uniform surface traction selects the ambient surface average and annihilates a rigid rotation term. The ambient stress has zero net surface force because its divergence vanishes inside the ball. Thus the sphere's hydrodynamic force is $-6\pi \mu a(\mathbf{V}-⟨{\mathbf{u}}_{\infty }⟩)$; mechanical balance gives the displayed formula. The surface-average-only expression requires a force-free inertialess sphere. The spherical mean of a biharmonic function makes this average exactly $[1+(a^2/6){\nabla }^2]{\mathbf{u}}_{\infty }(0)$.