From the Rank Theorem to the Vaschy-Buckingham Theorem

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1. Verfasser: Olivier Ky Thiêp CHOFFRUT-PHAN
Format: Recurso digital
Sprache:Englisch
Veröffentlicht: Zenodo 2026
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author Olivier Ky Thiêp CHOFFRUT-PHAN
author_facet Olivier Ky Thiêp CHOFFRUT-PHAN
contents <pre>This pedagogical note presents the mathematical foundations of the Vaschy-Buckingham theorem, known in fluid mechanics as the $\Pi$-theorem. The goal is to make explicit the link between this central result of dimensional analysis and the rank theorem of a linear map, as taught in first- or second-year undergraduate linear algebra. We show that the dimensionless condition can be reformulated as the search for the kernel of a linear map --- the dimensional matrix --- and that the number of independent dimensionless quantities is precisely the dimension of this kernel. The running example is the Stokes problem: the viscous drag exerted by a Newtonian fluid on a moving sphere, for which the method recovers the canonical form $F = \varphi(Re)\,\rho v^2 R^2$, bringing out the Reynolds number.</pre>
format Recurso digital
id zenodo_https___doi_org_10_5281_zenodo_19428776
institution Zenodo
language eng
publishDate 2026
publisher Zenodo
record_format zenodo
spellingShingle From the Rank Theorem to the Vaschy-Buckingham Theorem
Olivier Ky Thiêp CHOFFRUT-PHAN
linear algebra
rank theorem
kernel
dimensional analysis
Vaschy-Buckingham theorem
Pi theorem
dimensionless numbers
Stokes problem
physics education
mathematical physics
<pre>This pedagogical note presents the mathematical foundations of the Vaschy-Buckingham theorem, known in fluid mechanics as the $\Pi$-theorem. The goal is to make explicit the link between this central result of dimensional analysis and the rank theorem of a linear map, as taught in first- or second-year undergraduate linear algebra. We show that the dimensionless condition can be reformulated as the search for the kernel of a linear map --- the dimensional matrix --- and that the number of independent dimensionless quantities is precisely the dimension of this kernel. The running example is the Stokes problem: the viscous drag exerted by a Newtonian fluid on a moving sphere, for which the method recovers the canonical form $F = \varphi(Re)\,\rho v^2 R^2$, bringing out the Reynolds number.</pre>
title From the Rank Theorem to the Vaschy-Buckingham Theorem
topic linear algebra
rank theorem
kernel
dimensional analysis
Vaschy-Buckingham theorem
Pi theorem
dimensionless numbers
Stokes problem
physics education
mathematical physics
url https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19428776