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Point vortex equilibria on the sphere via Brownian ratchets

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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:http://hdl.handle.net/2115/48803

Title: Point vortex equilibria on the sphere via Brownian ratchets
Authors: Sakajo, Takashi Browse this author →KAKEN DB
Newton, Paul K. Browse this author
Keywords: Singular value decomposition
Brownian ratchets
Point charges on a sphere
Shannon entropy
Issue Date: 2009
Publisher: Royal Society
Journal Title: Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences
Volume: 465
Issue: 2102
Start Page: 437
End Page: 455
Publisher DOI: 10.1098/rspa.2008.0203
Abstract: We describe a Brownian ratchet scheme which we use to calculate relative equilibrium configurations of N point vortices of mixed strength on the surface of a unit sphere. We formulate it as a problem in linear algebra, A~􀀀 = 0, where A is a N × N(N − 1)/2 non-normal configuration matrix obtained by requiring that all inter-vortical distances on the sphere remain constant, and ~􀀀 2 RN is the (unit) vector of vortex strengths which must lie in the nullspace of A. Existence of an equilibrium is expressed by the condition det(ATA) = 0, while uniqueness follows if Rank(A) = N −1. The singular value decomposition of A is used to calculate an optimal basis set for the nullspace, yielding all values of the vortex strengths for which the configuration is an equilibrium and allowing us to decompose the equilibrium configuration into basis components. To home in on an equilibrium, we allow the point vortices to undergo a random walk on the sphere and after each step, we compute the smallest singular value of the configuration matrix, keeping the new arrangement only if it decreases. When the smallest singular value drops below a predetermined convergence threshold, the existence criterion is satisfied and an equilibrium configuration is achieved. We then find a basis set for the nullspace of A, and hence the vortex strengths, by calculating the right singular vectors corresponding to the singular values that are zero. We show a gallery of examples of equilibria with one-dimensional nullspaces obtained by this method. Then, using an unbiased ensemble of 1000 relative equilibria for each value N = 4 ! 10, we discuss some general features of the statistically averaged quantities, such as the Shannon entropy (using all of the normalized singular values) and Frobenius norm, center-of-vorticity vector, and Hamiltonian energy
Type: article (author version)
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2115/48803
Appears in Collections:理学院・理学研究院 (Graduate School of Science / Faculty of Science) > 雑誌発表論文等 (Peer-reviewed Journal Articles, etc)

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