Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Jun 1992
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1992apj...392...41c&link_type=abstract
Astrophysical Journal, Part 1 (ISSN 0004-637X), vol. 392, no. 1, June 10, 1992, p. 41-53. Research supported by ASI and MURST.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
58
Galactic Clusters, Gravitational Effects, Interacting Galaxies, Cosmology, Galactic Structure, Spatial Distribution
Scientific paper
The evolution of gravitational systems under merging interactions between their components is discussed, with emphasis on galaxies in groups or in the field, and on subclusters in forming clusters. The mass distribution evolving under aggregations is described with a kinetic equation, for which numerical and analytical solutions are presented and compared. The results agree quantitatively and show, after a short transient, two regimes: a self-similar evolution or a fast critical phenomenon occurring over a few crossing times in finite systems with relatively low velocity dispersions. The latter bears the marks of a gravitational phase transition. The findings are compared with observations of groups and clusters of galaxies, and it is concluded that such gravitational phase transitions are indeed effective or even dominant in two typical environments: in groups, leading to the formation of a giant elliptical or a cD-like galaxy, and in forming clusters, causing fast erasure of substructures.
Cavaliere Alfonso
Colafrancesco Sergio
Menci Nicola
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