Transition of a spherical vortex to a Dirac monopole with fractional topological charge

We study topological properties of classical spherical center vortices with the low-lying eigenmodes of the Dirac operator in the fundamental and adjoint representations using both the overlap and asqtad staggered fermion formulations. We find some evidence for fractional topological charge during cooling the spherical center vortex on a [Formula: see text] lattice. We identify the object with topological charge [Formula: see text] as a Dirac monopole with a gauge field fading away at large distances. Therefore, even for periodic boundary conditions, it does not need an anti-monopole.

Spherical vortices in rotating fluids

A popular model for a generic fat-cored vortex ring or eddy is Hill’s spherical vortex (Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A, vol. 185, 1894, pp. 213–245). This well-known solution of the Euler equations may be considered a special case of the doubly infinite family of swirling spherical vortices identified by Moffatt (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 35 (1), 1969, pp. 117–129). Here we find exact solutions for such spherical vortices propagating steadily along the axis of a rotating ideal fluid. The boundary of the spherical vortex swirls in such a way as to exactly cancel out the background rotation of the system. The flow external to the spherical vortex exhibits fully nonlinear inertial wave motion. We show that above a critical rotation rate, closed streamlines may form in this outer fluid region and hence carry fluid along with the spherical vortex. As the rotation rate is further increased, further concentric ‘sibling’ vortex rings are formed.

Theoretical Expressions for the Ascent Rate of Moist Deep Convective Thermals

An approximate analytic expression is derived for the ratio λ of the ascent rate of moist deep convective thermals and the maximum vertical velocity within them; λ is characterized as a function of two nondimensional buoyancy-dependent parameters y and h and is used to express the thermal ascent rate as a function of the buoyancy field. The parameter y characterizes the vertical distribution of buoyancy within the thermal, and h is the ratio of the vertically integrated buoyancy from the surface to the thermal top and the vertical integral of buoyancy within the thermal. Theoretical λ values are calculated using values of y and h obtained from idealized numerical simulations of ascending moist updrafts and compared to λ computed directly from the simulations. The theoretical values of [Formula: see text] 0.4–0.8 are in reasonable agreement with the simulated λ (correlation coefficient of 0.86). These values are notably larger than the [Formula: see text] from Hill’s (nonbuoyant) analytic spherical vortex, which has been used previously as a framework for understanding the dynamics of moist convective thermals. The relatively large values of λ are a result of net positive buoyancy within the upper part of thermals that opposes the downward-directed dynamic pressure gradient force below the thermal top. These results suggest that nonzero buoyancy within moist convective thermals, relative to their environment, fundamentally alters the relationship between the maximum vertical velocity and the thermal-top ascent rate compared to nonbuoyant vortices. Implications for convection parameterizations and interpretation of the forces contributing to thermal drag are discussed.

Perturbation response and pinch-off of vortex rings and dipoles

The nonlinear perturbation response of two families of vortices, the Norbury family of axisymmetric vortex rings and the Pierrehumbert family of two-dimensional vortex pairs, is considered. Members of both families are subjected to prolate shape perturbations similar to those previously introduced to Hill’s spherical vortex, and their response is computed using contour dynamics algorithms. The response of the entire Norbury family to this class of perturbations is considered, in order to bridge the gap between past observations of the behaviour of thin-cored members of the family and that of Hill’s spherical vortex. The behaviour of the Norbury family is contrasted with the response of the analogous two-dimensional family of Pierrehumbert vortex pairs. It is found that the Norbury family exhibits a change in perturbation response as members of the family with progressively thicker cores are considered. Thin-cored vortices are found to undergo quasi-periodic deformations of the core shape, but detrain no circulation into their wake. In contrast, thicker-cored Norbury vortices are found to detrain excess rotational fluid into a trailing vortex tail. This behaviour is found to be in agreement with previous results for Hill’s spherical vortex, as well as with observations of pinch-off of experimentally generated vortex rings at long formation times. In contrast, the detrainment of circulation that is characteristic of pinch-off is not observed for Pierrehumbert vortex pairs of any core size. These observations are in agreement with recent studies that contrast the formation of vortices in two and three dimensions. We hypothesize that transitions in vortex formation, such as those occurring between wake shedding modes and in vortex pinch-off more generally, might be understood and possibly predicted based on the observed perturbation responses of forming vortex rings or dipoles.

Existence and isoperimetric characterization of steady spherical vortex rings in a uniform flow in RN

We study a boundary-value problem for a particular semilinear elliptic equation on Rn (n ≥ 2), whose solutions represent generalized stream functions for steady axisymmetric ideal fluid flows. Solutions are shown to exist that generalize those already known in dimensions 2 and 3. An isoperimetric characterization is given for our solutions, which represent generalized spherical vortex-rings. As a corollary, a sharp Sobolev-type inequality is obtained.

Axisymmetric acoustic scattering by vortices

The scattering of acoustic waves by compact three-dimensional axisymmetric vortices is studied using direct numerical simulation in the case where the incoming wave is aligned with the symmetry axis and the direction of propagation of the vortices. The cases of scattering by Hill’s spherical vortex and Gaussian vortex rings are examined, and results are compared with predictions obtained by matched asymptotic expansions and the Born approximation. Good agreement is obtained for long waves, with the Born approximation usually giving better predictions, especially as the difference in scale between vortex and incoming waves decreases and as the Mach number of the flow increases. An improved version of the Born approximation which takes into account higher-order effects in Mach number gives the best agreement.