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For a stratified incompressible Euler fluid under gravity confined by rigid boundaries, sources of vorticity are classified with the aim of isolating those which are sensitive to the topological configurations of density isopycnals, for both layered and continuous density variations. The simplest case of a two-layer fluid is studied first. This shows explicitly that topological sources of vorticity are present whenever the interface intersects horizontal boundaries. Accordingly, the topological separation of the fluid domain due to the interface-boundary intersections can contribute additional terms to the vorticity balance equation. This phenomenon is reminiscent of Klein's 'Kaffeelöffel' thought-experiment for a homogeneous fluid (Klein, Z. Math. Phys., vol. 59, 1910, pp. 259-262), and it is essentially independent of the vorticity generation induced by the baroclinic term in the bulk of the fluid. In fact, the two-layer case is generalized to show that for the continuously stratified case topological vorticity sources are generically present whenever density varies along horizontal boundaries. The topological sources are expressed explicitly in terms of local contour integrals of the pressure along the intersection curves of isopycnals with domain boundaries, and their effects on vorticity evolution are encoded by an appropriate vector, termed here the 'topological vorticity'.

Topologically non-trivial configurations of stratified fluid domains are shown to generate selection mechanisms for conserved quantities. This is illustrated within the special case of a two-fluid system when the density of one of the fluids limits to zero, such as in the case of air and water. An explicit example is provided, demonstrating how the connection properties of the air domain affect total horizontal momentum conservation, despite the apparent translational invariance of the system. The correspondence between this symmetry and the selection process is also studied within the framework of variational principles for stratified ideal fluids.

Consequences of density stratification are studied for an ideal (Euler) incompressible fluid, confined to move under gravity between rigid lids but otherwise free to move along horizontal directions. Initial conditions that generate horizontal pressure imbalances in a laterally unbounded domain are examined. The aim is to show analytically the existence of classes of initial data for which total horizontal momentum evolves in time, even though only vertical forces act on the fluid in this set-up. A simple class of such initial conditions, leading to momentum evolution, is identified by systematic asymptotic expansions of the governing inhomogeneous Euler equations in the small-density-variation limit. These results for Euler equations are compared and confirmed with long-wave asymptotic models, which can handle arbitrary density variations and provide closed-form mathematical expressions for limiting cases. In particular, the role of wave dispersion arising from the fluid inertia is captured by the long-wave models, even for short-time dynamics emanating from initial conditions outside the models’ asymptotic range of validity. These results are compared with direct numerical simulations for variable density Euler fluids, which further validate the numerical algorithms and the analysis.

The interplay between incompressibility and stratification can lead to non-conservation of horizontal momentum in the dynamics of a stably stratified incompressible Euler fluid filling an infinite horizontal channel between rigid upper and lower plates. Lack of conservation occurs even though in this configuration only vertical external forces act on the system. This apparent paradox was seemingly first noticed by Benjamin (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 165, 1986, pp. 445-474) in his classification of the invariants by symmetry groups with the Hamiltonian structure of the Euler equations in twodimensional settings, but it appears to have been largely ignored since. By working directly with the motion equations, the paradox is shown here to be a consequence of the rigid lid constraint coupling through incompressibility with the infinite inertia of the far ends of the channel, assumed to be at rest in hydrostatic equilibrium. Accordingly, when inertia is removed by eliminating the stratification, or, remarkably, by using the Boussinesq approximation of uniform density for the inertia terms, horizontal momentum conservation is recovered. This interplay between constraints, action at a distance by incompressibility, and inertia is illustrated by layer-averaged exact results, two-layer long-wave models, and direct numerical simulations of the incompressible Euler equations with smooth stratification. © Cambridge University Press 2012.