Choreographies in the $n$-vortex Problem

    2018, Volume 23, Number 5, pp.  595-612

    Author(s): Calleja R., Doedel E., García-Azpeitia C.

    We consider the equations of motion of $n$ vortices of equal circulation in the plane, in a disk and on a sphere. The vortices form a polygonal equilibrium in a rotating frame of reference. We use numerical continuation in a boundary value setting to determine the Lyapunov families of periodic orbits that arise from the polygonal relative equilibrium. When the frequency of a Lyapunov orbit and the frequency of the rotating frame have a rational relationship, the orbit is also periodic in the inertial frame. A dense set of Lyapunov orbits, with frequencies satisfying a Diophantine equation, corresponds to choreographies of $n$ vortices. We include numerical results for all cases, for various values of $n$, and we provide key details on the computational approach.
    Keywords: $n$-vortex problem, choreographies, continuation methods
    Citation: Calleja R., Doedel E., García-Azpeitia C., Choreographies in the $n$-vortex Problem, Regular and Chaotic Dynamics, 2018, Volume 23, Number 5, pp. 595-612



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