Selected topics on the topology of ideal fluid flows

Abstract

This is a survey of certain geometric aspects of inviscid and incompressible fluid flows, which are described by the solutions to the Euler equations. We will review Arnold’s theorem on the topological structure of stationary fluids in compact manifolds, and Moffatt’s theorem on the topological interpretation of helicity in terms of knot invariants. The recent realization theorem by Enciso and Peralta-Salas of vortex lines of arbitrarily complicated topology for stationary solutions to the Euler equations will also be introduced. The aim of this paper is not to provide detailed proofs of all the stated results but to introduce the main ideas and methods behind certain selected topics of the subject known as Topological Fluid Mechanics. This is the set of lecture notes, the author gave at the XXIV International Fall Workshop on Geometry and Physics held in Zaragoza (Spain) during September 2015.