Dynamics of a bubble rising in gravitational field

The rising motion in free space of a pulsating spherical bubble of gas and vapour driven by the gravitational force, in an isochoric, inviscid liquid is investigated. The liquid is at rest at the initial time, so that the subsequent flow is irrotational. For this reason, the velocity field due to the bubble motion is described by means of a potential, which is represented through an expansion based on Legendre polynomials. A system of two coupled, ordinary and nonlinear differential equations is derived for the vertical position of the bubble center of mass and for its radius. This latter equation is a modified form of the Rayleigh-Plesset equation, including a term proportional to the kinetic energy associated to the translational motion of the bubble.