Abstract
A QUESTION which to me seems very interesting was posed by Dr. Christopherson in Nature of March 8, p. 345 : Can an approximate (numerical) computation establish either the existence or non-existence of a mathematical solution ? He was describing a recent use of relaxation methods to find new types of wake behind a moving body, and expressed himself as satisfied that these exist. But the paper which recorded these computations also recorded failure to discover behind a 'planing surface' a motion of the fluid involving waves. This failure had not been expected, and Dr. Christopherson concludes (as I think, rightly) that it should be regarded as a null result from an ideal experiment.
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SOUTHWELL, R. Existence of New Types of Wakes Behind a Moving Body. Nature 159, 642–643 (1947). https://doi.org/10.1038/159642b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/159642b0
