Linearised theory for surface and interfacial waves interacting with freely floating bodies in a two-layer fluid

We derive a linear system of equations governing the interaction of water waves with partially or totally submerged freely floating structures in a two-layer fluid. We establish conditions for the stability of equilibrium and, by considering time-harmonic motions, rewrite the problem as a spectral boundary-value problem consisting of a differential equation and an algebraic system, coupled through boundary conditions. We give also a suitable variational formulation for the problem and provide examples of configurations where the problem admits only the trivial solution.