Dynamic interaction of point vortices and a two-dimensional cylinder

In this paper we consider the system of an arbitrary two-dimensional cylinder interacting with point vortices in a perfect fluid. We present the equations of motion and discuss their integrability. Simulations show that the system of an elliptic cylinder (with nonzero eccentricity) and a single point vortex already exhibits chaotic features and the equations of motion are nonintegrable. We suggest a Hamiltonian form of the equations. The problem we study here, namely, the equations of motion, the Hamiltonian structure for the interacting system of a cylinder of arbitrary cross-section shape, with zero circulation around it, and N vortices, has been addressed by Shashikanth [Regular Chaotic Dyn. 10, 1 (2005)]. We slightly generalize the work by Shashikanth by allowing for nonzero circulation around the cylinder and offer a different approach than that by Shashikanth by using classical complex variable theory. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.