Time dependent compressible flow about a spherically symmetric polymer in solution

We obtain the general solution of the linear Navier-Stokes equation for time dependent compressible viscous flow about a spherically symmetric polymer molecule. The solution is presented in a covariant form valid in a general cartesian coordinate frame. In the course of deriving the solution we obtain a general decomposition of the unperturbed flow in the absence of the polymer. Our solution generalizes the earlier solution derived by Schmitz and Felderhof for the case of creeping flow.