Image system for Stokes-flow singularity between two parallel planar walls

Using a recently developed image representation for Stokes flow in a half-space bounded by a planar wall [Cichocki and Jones, Physica A 258, 273 (1998)], the image system is constructed for the flow field produced by a force multipole in the space bounded by two parallel walls. The image singularities are expressed in terms of products of double-reflection matrices, and the expansion is simplified using symmetries of the double-reflection operation. Our analysis yields recurrence relations for the strengths of the image multipoles. The relations are solved explicitly, and a complete image system is obtained for an arbitrary source-force multipole. Applications of our image representation for evaluating the hydrodynamic friction and mobility matrices of particles interacting with two parallel planar walls are indicated. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.