No label defined (Q4240427)

The author considers the linearized problem of the motion of a rigid body through a liquid. The liquid motion is governed by the Stokes equations for incompressible viscous fluid. The boundary value problem is formulated in a non-inertial frame of reference attached to the body. Due to equations, the motion of the body influences that of the fluid and vice versa. Nevertheless, it is shown that the motion of the body can be completely decoupled from that of the fluid, and it is basically governed by a system of six linear equations. Once the motion of the body has been completely determined, the known results on the exterior problem for the Stokes approximation of the Navier-Stokes equations are applied to obtain the strong global unique solvability of the problem of joint motion of the body and the fluid. With regard to the particle sedimentation problem, the author considers a case of special initial data for bodies of revolution with fore-and-aft symmetry. It is proved that such a body, once dropped in a quiescent fluid, will always keep. For the entire collection see [Zbl 0910.00019].