Schedule Apr 02, 2010
Equations for Extrasolar Planet Neutral Atmospheres
Erhan Gulsen (Univ. London)

Erhan Gulsen and James Y-K. Cho
Astronomy Unit, School of Mathematical Sciences
Queen Mary University of London

We analyze the basic, electrically-neutral equations and models of atmospheric dynamics relevant to the study of extrasolar planets. These equations include the primitive, Bousinessq, Green-Naghdi, equivalent-barotropic, shallow-water, and geostrophic equations, and their variants. The equations – as well as their conservation laws for energy, momentum and potential vorticity – are derived from a Lagrangian using a variational principle. The consistency and validity of the models for extrasolar planet applications are examined in detail.

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