Lamb's solution of stokes's equations: a sphere theorem

Abstract

The velocity and pressure in Stokes flow are written in terms of two functions A and B, where A is biharmonic and B is harmonic. Lamb's (1) general solution of Stokes's equations and Oseen's (2) solution due to a Stokeslet in the presence of a no-slip spherical boundary have the same structure as our representation. Ranger's (3) representation follows as a special case of our result. A sphere theorem for non-axisymmetric flow outside or inside a sphere is stated and proved. Collins's theorem (4) for axisymmetric flow follows as a special case of our theorem. A few illustrative examples are given and in each case the drag and torque on the sphere are calculated.