Hydrodynamic Flows on Curved Surfaces: Spectral Numerical Methods for Radial Manifold Shapes

Abstract: We formulate hydrodynamic equations and spectrally accurate numerical methods for investigating the role of geometry in flows within two-dimensional fluid interfaces. To achieve numerical approximations having high precision and level of symmetry for radial manifold shapes, we develop spectral Galerkin methods based on hyperinterpolation with Lebedev quadratures for $L^2$-projection to spherical harmonics. We demonstrate our methods by investigating hydrodynamic responses as the surface geometry is varied. Relative to the case of a sphere, we find significant changes can occur in the observed hydrodynamic flow responses as exhibited by quantitative and topological transitions in the structure of the flow. We present numerical results based on the Rayleigh-Dissipation principle to gain further insights into these flow responses. We investigate the roles played by the geometry especially concerning the positive and negative Gaussian curvature of the interface. We provide general approaches for taking geometric effects into account for investigations of hydrodynamic phenomena within curved fluid interfaces.