The dipole dynamical system

A dynamical system governing the collective interaction of N point-vortexdipoles is derived.Each dipole has an inherent orientation $\psi $ and generates a velocity field that decayslike $O(\mu /2 \pi r^2)$ where $ \mu $ is the dipole strength and$r$ is the distance from the dipole.The system of N-complex ordinary differentialequations plus N-real ordinary differentialequations for the dipole positions and orientationsare derived based on theassumption that each dipole moves with and tries to align itselfwith the local fluid velocity field.