ElsevierLozano, CarlosPonsin Roca, Jorge2026-06-162026-06-162026-06-08Applied Mathematics Letters 181, 2026, 1100270893-9659https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/applied-mathematics-lettershttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12666/1870We give a variational formulation of the continuous adjoint Kutta condition for two-dimensional subcritical potential flow, with emphasis on the Kutta condition and the role of the wake. We show that the adjoint Kutta condition can be imposed by a penalty term evaluated at the trailing edge, with the corresponding Lagrange multiplier determined by stationarity of the Lagrangian with respect to circulation, and that a wake treatment is not required. Some of the implications of these results for adjoint consistency are also briefly discussed.engAdjoint equationsPotential flowKutta conditionVariationa formulationDual consistencyinfo:eu-repo/semantics/article1873-545http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100010687info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess