Summary: | We provide sufficient conditions for the occurrence of time-periodic Hopf bifurcation for the coupled system constituted by a rigid sphere, <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mi mathvariant="script">S</mi></semantics></math></inline-formula>, freely moving under gravity in a Navier-Stokes liquid. Since the region of flow is unbounded (namely, the whole space outside <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mi mathvariant="script">S</mi></semantics></math></inline-formula>), the main difficulty consists in finding the appropriate functional setting where general theory may apply. In this regard, we are able to show that the problem can be formulated as a suitable system of coupled operator equations in Banach spaces, where the relevant operators are Fredholm of index 0. In such a way, we can use the theory recently introduced by the author and give sufficient conditions for time-periodic bifurcation to take place.
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