Dynamics of perturbed relative equilibria of point vortices on the sphere or plane (Q1581078)

This paper is devoted to the existence of a relative equilibria of \(N\) vortices on the sphere with zero momentum. These relative equilibria consist of vortices of one strength arranged in a regular \((N-1)\)-gon, the center of which is occupied by a vortex of a different strength. There is essentially one of of these relative equilibria for every sufficiently small diameter, and they are formally stable for \(N=3\) and \(N=4\). The author shows that for \(N=4\), under small perturbation to nonzero momentum, they move on the sphere, to first order in the momentum perturbations as free particles move under the influence of a magnetic monopole. In the analysis the internal and external degrees of freedom are separated and the mass of these point particles is determined. Moreover, the author indicates that an analogous situation also occurs for the planar system with noncompact SE(2) symmetry.