Two-Dimensional Flow on the Sphere

Abstract

Equilibrium statistical mechanics predicts that inviscid, two-dimensional, incompressible flow on the sphere eventually reaches a state in which spherical harmonic modes of degrees n=1 and n=2 hold all the energy. By a separate theory, such flow is static in a reference frame rotating at angular speed 2Ω/3 with respect to the inertial frame. The vorticity field in the static frame is an accident of the initial conditions, but, once established, it lasts forever under the stated assumptions. We investigate the possibility of such behavior with a stereographic-coordinate model that conserves energy and enstrophy when the viscosity vanishes.