Surface Gravity Waves: Shallow Water Fluid Particle Physics

Abstract

One of Newton’s mathematical solutions to a hypothetical orbital problem, recently verified by an independent physics model, is applied to the fluid particle motion in shallow water surface gravity waves. What is the functional form of the central force, with origin at the ellipse’s center, which will keep a body in the orbit? Newton found out it is the spring force, which is linear. All fluid particles in shallow water waves move in ellipses. By a superposition of solutions in a linear problem, the application of Newton’s result to shallow water waves is combined with a feature not noticed by Newton: the orbital period is independent of the semi-major and semi-minor axes. Two conclusions reached are that the wave period of shoaling waves should be constant and that there is no friction in these waves.