Force-free straight-rod orientation equation 2026-10-06
The orientation of a force-free, torque-free infinitely slender straight rod follows background rotation plus the transverse component of strain. The last term preserves . Finite aspect ratio changes the strain coefficient and permits periodic tumbling in a simple shear flow.
Hydrodynamic torque 2026-10-06
The hydrodynamic torque on a body about a reference point is , with measured from that point and pointing from the body into the fluid. The stress includes pressure and viscous contributions, and is the fluid traction on the body. Changing the reference point by changes the torque by , where is the fluid force. A torque-free body has zero resultant torque, including any external torque.
Logarithmic lubrication resistance of a sphere near a wall Created 2026-10-05 Updated 2026-10-14
A sphere of radius at gap translates at and rotates at above a stationary wall in a right-handed coordinate system. At leading order its gap is . In its translating frame the lower and upper tangential velocities are and . The Reynolds lubrication equation givesIntegrating the upper-boundary traction, including pressure on the sloping surface, and its moment about the sphere centre gives the sphere-on-fluid force and torqueThe off-diagonal symmetry is required by the Lorentz reciprocal theorem for Stokes flow. A torque-free sphere therefore has and leading drag . Compare the rigid-wall terms of Bertin et al., equations (4.4)–(4.5); those forces act on the sphere and have the opposite sign.
Microswimmer Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-28
A microswimmer is a microscopic body that propels itself through a fluid. At small Reynolds number its motion is governed by Stokes flow, and self-propulsion must respect the force-free and torque-free conditions.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 iii Paper 47 1 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Apply the reciprocal identity with flow1 the actual body-force-driven flow and flow2 the rotlet auxiliary field. Its body force is zero. The large-sphere boundary terms vanish under the usual decay and convergence assumptions for this unbounded body-force problem.
On the sphere, the actual rigid velocity is . The auxiliary force is zero and its torque with the outward fluid normal is . The actual torque with that normal is the negative of the hydrodynamic torque on the sphere, hence zero for a torque-free sphere. Consequently the surface side of the reciprocal identity is just . The volume side isSince the auxiliary couple is arbitrary,An unknown translation contributes nothing because the auxiliary rotlet has zero net force. This is body-force-driven rotation of a torque-free sphere.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 iii Paper 47 1 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let . The first sphere's leading velocity field is . Taking its curl givesThe second sphere is torque-free, soIts own force-free and torque-free motion emits no Stokeslet or rotlet; further reflections are smaller at large separation. In particular it spins in the opposite direction for a primary rotation perpendicular to the line of centers, and in the same direction with twice that magnitude for a parallel rotation.
Now isolate the additional interaction caused by the applied force . Its leading Stokeslet produces at the first center the incident velocity . The Stokes drag law makes the increment of the force required to hold that sphere fixedThe sign opposes the incident velocity. This holding force acts on the fluid and generates a reflected Stokeslet. A Stokeslet of force has vorticity . Evaluating half that vorticity at givesThus its magnitude is , as required. This is forced-sphere rotation reflected from a held sphere. Longitudinal forcing has zero leading spin by symmetry. Finite-size multipoles and the couple correction needed to preserve the first sphere's prescribed spin are smaller than this force-monopole reflection by order .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2004 iii Paper 74 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Put and . In the Unscaled Papkovich–Neuber representation, take the harmonic potentials and . Differentiating gives the Stokeslet velocity and its pressure:Indeed, writing ,The antisymmetric first two terms cancel in the rate-of-strain tensor, whereas their curl supplies the vorticity. ThusThe rate-of-strain tensor has zero trace, as required by incompressibility. The stress is ; integrating its traction with normal over a sphere gives . This fixes the force normalization of the Stokeslet.
For a sphere in a uniform straining Stokes flow, write the ambient velocity as , where is symmetric and trace-free, and set . Symmetry gives zero translation and rotation of the centred force-free, torque-free sphere. Seek a decaying disturbance using the Unscaled Papkovich–Neuber representation withThe components of are derivatives of , and is a trace-free harmonic quadrupole, so both potentials satisfy Laplace's equation outside the sphere. Direct differentiation yieldsThe no-slip boundary condition at requires the coefficient of to be and that of to vanish: , . Hence , , andThis disturbance cancels the ambient velocity at , decays at infinity, and has a leading stresslet proportional to .
For the two-sphere hydrodynamic interaction, let point from the forced sphere to the second sphere. The first sphere's leading far field is the Stokeslet with . Its incident rate-of-strain tensor at the second sphere isThe force-free sphere translates with the local uniform incident flow, and the torque-free sphere rotates with half the incident vorticity. Those parts cause no leading Stokeslet or rotlet disturbance. The remaining incident strain produces the stresslet just calculated. At displacement from the second sphere its velocity isThe first sphere translates in this returned incident flow. Finite-size sampling and higher incident multipoles enter only beyond the retained reflection order. Thus the stresslet reflection between two force-free and forced spheres givesThe factor makes explicit the velocity scale implicit in the printed remainder.
The resulting input power, equal to the viscous dissipation, isIt decreases at fixed force. The Minimum-dissipation theorem for Stokes flow instead compares admissible fields at fixed first-sphere velocity: extending a two-sphere field rigidly into the second sphere gives an admissible one-sphere field, so the extra rigid inclusion can only increase the minimum resistance. Allowing the second sphere to choose its translation and rotation minimizes over its rigid motions, producing zero force and couple there. An increase of this effective hydrodynamic resistance matrix decreases its inverse hydrodynamic mobility matrix, and hence decreases fixed-force power. The negative mobility correction is therefore consistent with minimum dissipation.
If the second sphere is prevented from rotating, its angular velocity relative to the incident fluid becomesUse the rotating sphere in Stokes flow at . The additional reflected rotlet givesAdding this rotation-clamped reflection between two spheres to the strain reflection,The holding couple supplies no power because the held sphere's angular velocity is zero.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 iii Paper 77 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For a Newtonian fluid, write , where is the rate-of-strain tensor. The Stokes equation without body force gives . Since the stress tensor is symmetric, its contraction with the antisymmetric part of the velocity gradient is zero. ThusThe divergence theorem proves the boundary-work identityFor an incompressible flow, , so is precisely the viscous dissipation.
Apply this identity to the particle-free volume and then to the fluid outside the added particle. On the rigid particle, the velocity has the form . Its contribution to the boundary work is , which vanishes because the particle is force-free and torque-free. The outer velocity is unchanged. Subtracting the two boundary-work identities therefore givesTo move this expression to the particle surface, apply the Lorentz reciprocal theorem to and in the punctured fluid domain. For completeness, its local proof isOn the outer boundary . Let be the particle-outward normal, opposite to the fluid-outward normal there. Integrating the preceding divergence identity givesThis expression includes the removal of the original fluid inside the particle; that removal must not be counted separately again.
For a sphere in a uniform straining Stokes flow, is symmetric and trace free, and . Symmetry gives zero rigid translation and rotation. Put and . Use the Unscaled Papkovich–Neuber representation printed on the paper, with the decaying harmonic potentialsTheir harmonicity follows from and from being a trace-free second derivative of . Direct differentiation givesAt , the no-slip boundary condition requires . Matching the independent and terms fixes and . The disturbance velocity and pressure are consequentlyThe pressure follows from . The disturbance decays, the total velocity vanishes at the sphere, and the harmonic representation verifies the Stokes equation. The boundary traction has zero total force by odd symmetry, and zero total torque because is symmetric, confirming the assumed force-free and torque-free motion.
At the sphere , so the extra dissipation due to a rigid inclusion becomes . Contracting the supplied total stress tensor with cancels its terms proportional to , leaving . ThusUsing proves the single-sphere dissipation increaseOne may perform the comparison in a large bounded vessel with prescribed straining velocity and then take its size to infinity; the given near-sphere approximation makes this limit compatible with the fixed-outer-velocity definition of .
The sphere number density is . Neglecting hydrodynamic interactions, the additional viscous dissipation per unit volume is . Adding the particle-free value givesThis is the Einstein viscosity formula for a dilute suspension, to first order in the particle volume fraction.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 iii Paper 77 3 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Choose the axial origin at the sphere's centre. Reflection leaves the straight tube, the spherical geometry and the transverse displacement of the centre unchanged. It reverses the prescribed axial Hagen-Poiseuille flow, while it leaves a hypothetical transverse particle velocity unchanged. On the other hand, kinematic reversibility of Stokes flow says that reversing the imposed flow reverses every particle velocity, including that transverse component. The force-free and torque-free constraints are preserved by both operations. Uniqueness of the coupled Stokes flow and rigid-body motion therefore makes the transverse velocity equal to its own negative. It must vanish.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 iii Paper 77 3 Solution 2026-10-14
In this continuation measures eccentricity, not the viscosity ratio used in Question 2. Take with fixed. For the nearly occluding sphere in a cylindrical tube, the narrow gap has thickness and axial length , obtained by balancing and . In the sphere frame the tangential velocity scale is . The lubrication approximation then gives the gap scalesThe large local pressure excursion is distinct from the eventual net pressure jump. Away from the sphere the velocity varies across a radius , so the far Hagen-Poiseuille flow hasThese scales also show why the gap pressure can be much larger than its shear stress while the leading net jump can be smaller than that pressure.
Use , so is the moving tube wall and is the locally stationary sphere. The no-slip boundary conditions are , . Integrating , with pressure independent of to leading order, gives the Couette-Poiseuille flow in a thin gapDifferentiate at both surfaces and eliminate using this moving-boundary lubrication flux:The coordinate reversal means at the tube wall.
At leading order is independent of in each angular strip, though it may depend on . Both boundaries are stationary as shapes in the sphere frame and impermeable, so the integrated continuity equation is . The pressure changes along over but along the circumference over . Thus circumferential velocity is only , and its flux is . Circumferential flux divergence is smaller than the possible leading axial divergence by a factor . Consequently to the order needed. This is not an assumption of equal flux at different angular positions.
For fixed define the lubrication resistance integrals for a nearly occluding sphereIn particular, , and . The local pressure relation givesA putative generic value makes this jump . However, the integrated wall shear in part (ii) is only , so the force-free global balance permits a common net pressure jump only of order . The outer flow has circumferentially uniform pressures on both sides. Therefore the pressure jump must cancel in every angular strip, not merely after angular averaging. The pressure recovery condition in lubrication flow determinesThis explains how the leading-order part of the global force balance selects the local flux.
The total sphere-frame volume flux is nowTransforming back to the laboratory adds , so to this order. For physical pressure, Hagen-Poiseuille flow gives . ThusThe printed positive expression is the pressure-drop gradient in the direction of the laboratory flow; the Poiseuille hint omits the minus sign when is read as the derivative of physical pressure. With the specified wall velocity , the laboratory flow is positive and its physical pressure gradient is negative.
Next insert the leading flux into the wall shear stress:Let be the localized extra pressure drop, after subtracting the regular far Poiseuille gradient. Contributions outside the neck are only and are smaller than the jump. Since , part (ii) gives . Hence the leading pressure drop isFor example, the concentric limit is . The integral grows as the minimum gap shrinks; the fixed- qualification prevents treating a further near-contact limit as uniformly covered.
On the sphere the leading shear stress is , soPositive and negative tangential stresses cancel within each angular strip. Thus the leading tangential resultant, and its leading torque contribution, vanish: negligible rotation is consistent with the torque-free condition. The shear is not zero pointwise, and the pressure forces are not zero. Pressure on a sphere cannot produce a torque about its centre because its normal is radial; its force contributions and the matched far pressure jump remain essential to the force-free transport of a nearly occluding sphere.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 68 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
For an incompressible flow, write the Newtonian fluid stress tensor as , where is the rate-of-strain tensor. The Stokes equation gives . Symmetry of the Cauchy stress tensor therefore givesIntegrating and applying the divergence theorem expresses the viscous dissipation as boundary power:At a moving rigid body, the surface velocity is . Its boundary-power contribution is , with the force and torque evaluated using the fluid's outward normal vector. Both resultants vanish for a force-free, torque-free inclusion. Thus the new viscous dissipation comes entirely from the unchanged outer boundary velocity. Subtracting the particle-free boundary power givesApply the Lorentz reciprocal theorem to and in the fluid outside the inclusion. On the outer boundary , soWriting for the particle's outward normal vector gives the required extra dissipation due to a rigid inclusion:This subtraction already accounts for the fluid volume displaced by the inclusion; it is not just the integral of the disturbance's local viscous dissipation.
For the sphere, the ambient rate-of-strain tensor is symmetric and trace free. The sphere in a uniform straining Stokes flow has zero translational and rotational velocity: inversion symmetry eliminates its force, and symmetry of eliminates its torque. To derive the disturbance, put , and seekThe incompressible flow condition and Stokes equation reduce toA decaying family satisfying these equations is , , . The no-slip boundary condition requires and , so and . ConsequentlyThe total velocity is zero at , and the disturbance decays as . The pressure constant has been set to zero. These boundary and far-field conditions, together with Uniqueness of Stokes flow, establish the solution. There is no rotational background in a pure strain flow.
On the sphere . Contracting the supplied Newtonian fluid stress tensor with makes its two terms proportional to cancel, leaving . Hence the extra dissipation due to a rigid inclusion isHere . Taking the large outer boundary limit only after using the fixed-boundary power identity avoids replacing that prescribed boundary by an uncontrolled boundary at infinity.
If denotes the number of spheres per unit volume, . ThusAdd this to the particle-free viscous dissipation density . Comparing with gives the Einstein viscosity formula for a dilute suspension:to first order in . The hydrodynamic interactions neglected here contribute beyond that dilute order.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 73 1 b v Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Sphere 2 is now force-free and torque-free. Its translation and spin follow the incident rigid-motion components, so it emits neither a Stokeslet nor a rotlet. Its first disturbance is a stresslet from the incident rate of strain, of magnitude . Its return velocity at sphere 1 is consequently :More precisely, that leading correction is . It vanishes for purely transverse forcing, for which the first translational correction is of order .
The first-return spin requires an additional cancellation. The leading incident strain at sphere 2 isIt is axisymmetric about the line of centers, so the reflected stresslet has zero vorticity at sphere 1 on that axis. A naive vorticity estimate of order therefore has zero coefficient. The finite-size correction to the incident strain and the next force-free scattering multipoles are two powers of smaller; these generically giveThis suppressed spin from a force-free distant sphere is also consistent with the reciprocal torque-to-self-translation coupling. Purely longitudinal forcing gives zero spin exactly by axial symmetry. Distinguishing the stresslet's on-axis curl from its generic off-axis scale is essential here.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 77 3 e Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
The rotlet is the point-torque fundamental solution of Stokes flow. Its torque strength is an axial vector, and its circulating velocity decays as . A freely swimming cell with no external torque is torque-free. The motor applies opposite internal torques to its body and flagellar apparatus, so the net torque monopole satisfiesIndividual body and flagellar torques need not vanish. A spatially separated pair can therefore leave a rotlet dipole even though there is no far-field rotlet monopole.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 80 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
A freely swimming body has no net external force or torque in Stokes flow. Its force-free condition removes the Stokeslet monopole, and its torque-free condition removes the antisymmetric force-dipole contribution. The leading generic far field is therefore a symmetric traceless rank-two tensor stresslet, decaying as . Its axial strength may vanish for special swimmers, in which case higher-order singularities dominate.
The axisymmetric stresslet from a Stokeslet pair provides an explicit construction and fixes the sign convention. Place forces and on the fluid at and . The Stokeslet tensor isExpanding their sum for givesSincethe dipole strength is and the resulting stresslet is the given one. More general surface-traction distributions produce the same leading form through their symmetric traceless first force moment.
Writing , its radial velocity isConsequentlyThis classifies pusher microswimmers and puller microswimmers in the force-on-fluid convention used by the given formula.
For the circular swimmer let , , , and choose the tangent director . Its sign is immaterial to the stresslet. Write for the observation vector from the circle centre, and assume . The leading far-field orbit average of a tangent stresslet is obtained by replacing by while retaining the time-dependent director.
The orientation averaging of an axisymmetric stresslet over a full revolution givesSubstitution givesThuswith equivalently . The effective axis is normal to the orbit plane. A positive original strength becomes negative, and a negative strength becomes positive: a pusher averages to a puller, and a puller averages to a pusher, at leading far-field order. The result is independent of and at this order.
The accuracy of the centre replacement can be made explicit. Half a revolution changes and to their negatives; the stresslet is even in . Pairing those times replaces the displaced field byHenceThe finite-radius average is not exactly a point stresslet at every location. For example, on the positive axis the exact average of the supplied model iswhich has the derived point-stresslet limit for . This even displacement correction in an orbit-averaged stresslet is consistent with the far-field restriction.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 329 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let be the rate-of-strain tensor and the Newtonian fluid stress tensor. The viscous dissipation is . The Minimum-dissipation theorem for Stokes flow compares the Stokes flow with every sufficiently regular incompressible flow in the same domain having the same prescribed boundary velocity, with no body force or with a conservative body force absorbed into the fluid pressure. A trial field need not satisfy the Stokes flow equations. Write it as , with and on the boundary. Integration by parts, the symmetry of the Newtonian fluid stress tensor, and giveConsequently the Stokes flow minimizes dissipation:Equality requires a rigid body motion of , which the prescribed boundary eliminates. Extending the flow inside the inserted particle as its rigid body velocity produces an admissible comparison field with zero internal rate-of-strain tensor; hence the extra dissipation due to a rigid inclusion is nonnegative.
Here and below on points into the particle, so the traction represents force exerted by the particle on the fluid. Apply the Lorentz reciprocal theorem for Stokes flow in the fluid region to and the restriction of . The equal outer boundary velocities yieldThe boundary-work formula for viscous dissipation therefore gives . The last integral is zero: is symmetric and divergence-free throughout the particle's original volume, so its total force and torque there vanish, and on is a rigid body velocity. This also allows the sign of this zero-work term to be reversed, giving exactly
With the particle's centre as origin, define , and the particle stresslet tensor . Contracting the linear background velocity with the traction givesThe background rate-of-strain tensor is symmetric and trace-free; the trace of this unprojected particle stresslet tensor does not affect the contraction.
For the straight-rod resistance in a linear flow, write , , , and , . The slender-body force density becomes . The integrals of and are and , respectively, soFor a force-free, torque-free rod, and the perpendicular component of is . Axial spin is not determined by this leading, zero-thickness slender-body theory; it has no effect on . Put . The vector identity givesThe force-free straight-rod orientation equation combines the background rotation with the part of strain that turns the rod; removing preserves its unit length. A rigid body cannot undergo the axial extension or compression imposed by , so opposite axial forces resist that deformation. No leading slender-body force density is needed when , even though the rod may rotate. Its particle stresslet tensor and viscous dissipation are
In the simple shear flow, , and . Thus the rod excess dissipation in shear isThe maxima at correspond to strongest axial extension and compression. The zeros at correspond to zero axial strain: a rod aligned with the velocity or its gradient needs no leading force at that instant. For , with the continuous branch and . Reversing the shear flow reverses the traversal. Substitution givesThe tails make the total finite; the instantaneous zero at lies between two maxima.
For a dilute rod suspension, the added bulk stress is the number density times the orientation average of the particle stresslet tensor. In this ideal infinitely slender, non-interacting model, rods approach alignment with the shear flow and their excess viscous dissipation decays. A real finite-aspect-ratio rod continues to tumble; rotational diffusion and interactions also maintain a spread of orientations. One therefore expects increased effective viscosity, with alignment offering a mechanism for reduced excess viscosity at strong shear flow. This is a qualitative expectation, not a claim that a finite rod suspension has zero steady excess stress.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 334 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
In resistive-force theory (RFT), the hydrodynamic force per unit arclength exerted by the fluid on a slender filament isHere is the unit tangent and the local velocity relative to the background fluid. The parallel and perpendicular drag coefficients of a slender filament are positive and generally satisfy ; their leading logarithmic ratio is about two. This local approximation assumes a small filament radius compared with length and curvature scales, negligible fluid inertia, and a Newtonian fluid. It represents drag by the local tangent direction and neglects nonlocal hydrodynamic interactions between separated filament segments. Boundaries, close approaches and end corrections may require slender-body theory or a more complete flow calculation. In this problem the background fluid is at rest, and the drag coefficients are taken uniform along the filament.
The rigid-body velocity in a deforming swimmer frame is the sum of translation, rotation and material deformation. With ,so, in instantaneous swimmer-frame components,The reference-frame conditions attach the origin and orientation to the filament's base and base tangent. They prevent arbitrary shape translations or tilts from being absorbed into the definition of .
The exact tangent and arclength element areSince , the local velocity is . Changing the drag tensor by its tangent correction therefore changes only at . The arclength correction is smaller still at this order. Also . Thus is sufficient at order . This assumes the small-slope expansion is uniform, .
Put and , with . The first-order local force isIts total hydrodynamic forces areTaking the moment about the swimmer-frame origin, , the second term is beyond first order. HenceFor force-free and torque-free motion, the three leading coefficients vanish. The longitudinal force immediately gives . The two transverse equations areTheir determinant is . Solving yields the first-order free swimming of a planar filament:The resistive-force theory coefficient cancels because both equations use the same transverse drag. Another interpretation is the least-squares projection of filament deformation velocity: is the best affine approximation to on . Zero transverse force and torque mean that the residual is orthogonal to and .
If is sufficiently differentiable and periodic with period , each has zero temporal mean. More explicitly,Both bracketed quantities return to their initial values over a period. Thus the first-order periodic transverse swimming velocity satisfiesThese results concern first order and swimmer-frame components. Changes of orientation can affect laboratory displacements at second order; higher-order net swimming is not ruled out.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 329 1 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
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. TryThe resulting Stokes flow isAt , the coefficient of fixes ; the remaining constant vector gives . In the mode, matching gives and . Therefore the complete two-mode tensorial squirmer flow isThe 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.

