Coadjoint orbits, vortices, and Clebsch variables for incompressible fluids

Abstract

This paper is a study of incompressible fluids, especially their Clebsch variables and vortices, using symplectic geometry and the Lie-Poisson structure on the dual of a Lie algebra. Following ideas of Arnold and others it is shown that Euler's equations are Lie-Poisson equations associated to the group of volume-preserving diffeomorphisms. The dual of the Lie algebra is seen to be the space of vortices, and Kelvin's circulation theorem is interpreted as preservation of coadjoint orbits. In this context, Clebsch variables can be understood as momentum maps. The motion of N point vortices is shown to be identifiable with the dynamics on a special coadjoint orbit, and the standard canonical variables for them are a special kind of Clebsch variables. Point vortices with cores, vortex patches, and vortex filaments can be understood in a similar way. This leads to an explanation of the geometry behind the Hald-Beale-Majda convergence theorems for vorticity algorithms. Symplectic structures on the coadjoint orbits of a vortex patch and filament are computed and shown to be closely related to those commonly used for the KdV and the Schrödinger equations respectively.