Periodic solutions of the \(N\)-vortex Hamiltonian system in planar domains (Q897800)

The authors consider the dynamics of \(N\) point vortices \(z_1(t),\dots, z_N(t)\) in a domain \(\Omega\) in the complex plane where the governing Hamiltonian system is \[ \Gamma_k\dot z_k(t)= -i\,\nabla_{z_k} H_\Omega(z(t))\quad\text{for }k= 1,\dots, N.\tag{\(*\)} \] Here \(\Gamma_k\) is the strength of the \(k\)th vortex, \(i\) is the imaginary unit and \(\nabla_{z_k}\) is the gradient with respect to \(z_k\). The authors consider whether equation \((*)\) has any non-constant solutions when \(\Omega\) is not the whole complex plane. In this case, the Hamiltonian has the form \[ H_\Omega(z_1,\dots, z_n)={1\over 2\pi} \sum\limits_{j,k=1\atop j\neq k}\Gamma_j \Gamma_k\log{1\over | z_j-z_k|}- F(z),\qquad\text{where} \] \[ F(z)= \sum^N\limits_{j,k=1\atop j\neq k} g(z_j,z_k)- \sum^N_{k=1} g(z_k,z_k), \] and \(g:\overline\Omega\times\Omega\to \mathbb R\) is \(C^2\) and symmetric. Complications are plentiful: the Hamiltonian is singular, not integrable, and unbounded above and below, and the energy levels are not compact. The main result is that, for all the \(\Gamma_k\) identical, a family \(z^r(t)\) of periodic solutions exists with \(0<r<r_0\) with arbitrarily small minimal period \(T_r\) that tends to zero with \(r\). The result applies to generic bounded domains and to some that are unbounded.