Vortex motion and the geometric phase. I: Basic configurations and asymptotics (Q1383269)

The geometric, or Hannay-Berry, phase is calculated for three canonical point vortex configurations in the plane. The simplest configuration is the three-vortex problem with arbitrary (like signed) circulations, where two of the vortices are near each other compared to the distance between them and a third vortex. We show that the third (distant) vortex induces a geometric phase in the relative angle variable between the two nearby vortices. The second configuration is a particle and vortex in a circular domain. In this problem, the geometric phase is induced on the particle by the presence of the boundary. The third configuration is an infinite row of point vortices undergoing subharmonic pairing. In this case, a geometric phase is induced on a particle orbiting one of the vortices as the vortex pairs orbit each other. In each case, we derive the formula for the geometric phase using an asymptotic procedure, and give it a geometric interpretation.