Free-surface equatorial flows with surface tension in spherical coordinates

Abstract

In this paper, we determine an exact solution to the governing equations in spherical coordinates for an inviscid, incompressible fluid. This solution describes a steady, purely azimuthal equatorial flow with an associated free surface. Using functional analytic techniques, we demonstrate that if a free surface is known beforehand, the variations in pressure needed to achieve this surface implicitly define the shape of the free surface in a unique way.