Self-similar Motions and Related Relative Equilibria in the N-point Vortex System

Abstract

We study self-similar solutions of the point-vortex system. The explicit formula for self-similar solutions has been obtained for the three point-vortex problem and for a specific example of the four and five point-vortex problems. We see that the families consisting of these self-similar collapsing solutions are described by one-parameter families, and their collapse time and Hamiltonian are also expressed by functions of the same parameter. Then, the configurations at limit points of the parameter are in relative equilibria. For the many-vortex problem, we investigate the point-vortex system with the help of numerical computations. In particular, considering the case that $N - 1$ point vortices have a uniform vortex strength, we show that families of self-similar collapsing solutions continuously depend on the Hamiltonian and the self-similar solutions asymptotically approach relative equilibria as the Hamiltonian gets close to certain values. In addition, we prove the existence of relative equilibria for the four point-vortex system. We also investigate an example of seven point vortices with non-uniform vortex strengths and give numerical results for it.