4. On Vortex Atoms

Abstract

After noticing Helmholtz's admirable discovery of the law of vortex motion in a perfect liquid, that is, in a fluid perfectly destitute of viscosity (or fluid friction), the author said that this discovery inevitably suggests the idea that Helmholtz's rings are the only true atoms. For the only pretext seeming to justify the monstrous assumption of infinitely strong and infinitely rigid pieces of matter, the existence of which is asserted as a probable hypothesis by some of the greatest modern chemists in their rashly-worded introductory statements, is that urged by Lucretius and adopted by Newton; that it seems necessary to account for the unalterable distinguishing qualities of different kinds of matter. But Helmholtz has proved an absolutely unalterable quality in the motion of any portion of a perfect liquid, in which the peculiar motion which he calls “wirbel-bewegung” has been once created. Thus, any portion of a perfect liquid which has “wirbel-bewegung” has one recommendation of Lucretius' atoms—infinitely perennial specific quality. To generate or to destroy “wirbel-bewegung” in a perfect fluid can only be an act of creative power. Lucretius' atom does not explain any of the properties of matter without attributing them to the atom itself.

Creation and dynamics of knotted vortices

“…In real fluids-even superfluids-the situation is more complicated, and linking can change through reconnection events, whose detailed dynamics are challenging to resolve in both theory and experiment. Although interest in knotted vortices in ideal fluids dates back to Lord Kelvin, who first realized their topological robustness 24 , their conjectured role in dissipative flows has generated much further interest. Tangles of vortex linesthe sinews of turbulence 25 -offer insights into understanding flow and dissipation in hydrodynamics, and much interest lies in determining their temporal stability and the mechanism through which knots dissolve.…”

AirWave

“…Kelvin [21] provided one of the earliest descriptions of an air vortex generator in 1867. His apparatus for exhibiting smoke rings consisted of a rigid cubic box, with a 20 cm hole in one side and the opposite side replaced with a flexible membrane.…”

On amphicheiral knots

“…It is significant that Tait's work on knots was stimulated by William Thomson's theory of vortex atoms [55], that Thomson, in 1873, used the terms "homocheiral" and "heterocheiral" [56], and that it was only later, as Lord Kelvin, that Thomson introduced and defined "chiral" and "chirality" [57]. "Homocheiral", "heterocheiral", and "amphicheiral" are therefore contemporaneous coinages that predate "chiral" and whose roots are closer to the original (XecP = hand).…”