Vortex core identification in viscous hydrodynamics

Abstract

We describe a software package designed for the investigation of topological fluid dynamics with a novel algorithm for locating and tracking vortex cores. The package is equipped with modules for generating desired vortex knots and links and evolving them according to the Navier-Stokes equations, while tracking and visualizing them. The package is parallelized using a message passing interface for a multiprocessor environment and makes use of a computational steering library for dynamic user intervention.