Vortex generated fluid flows in multiply connected domains

A fluid flow in a multiply connected domain generated by an arbitrary number of point vortices is considered. A stream function for this flow is constructed as a limit of a certain functional sequence using the method of images. The convergence of this sequence is discussed, and the speed of convergence is determined explicitly. The presented formulas allow for an easy computation of the values of the stream function with arbitrary precision in the case of well-separated cylinders. The considered problem is important for applications such as eddy flows in oceans. Moreover, since finding the stream function of the flow is essentially identical to finding the modified Green’s function for Laplace’s equation, the presented method can be applied to a more general class of applied problems which involve solving the Dirichlet problem for Laplace’s equation.