Physics – Condensed Matter – Statistical Mechanics
Scientific paper
2009-05-19
Journal of Statistical Mechanics, 2009, P04019
Physics
Condensed Matter
Statistical Mechanics
32 pages, 14 figures. Proceedings (refereed) based on invited talk by MJ at the "Sigma Phi" conference in Statistical Physics,
Scientific paper
Purely self-gravitating systems of point particles have been extensively studied in astrophysics and cosmology, mainly through numerical simulations, but understanding of their dynamics still remains extremely limited. We describe here results of a detailed study of a simple class of cold quasi-uniform initial conditions, for both finite open systems and infinite systems. These examples illustrate well the qualitative features of the quite different dynamics observed in each case, and also clarify the relation between them. In the finite case our study highlights the potential importance of energy and mass ejection prior to virialization, a phenomenon which has been previously overlooked. We discuss in both cases the validity of a mean-field Vlasov-Poisson description of the dynamics observed, and specifically the question of how particle number should be extrapolated to test for it.
Joyce Meridith
Marcos Bruno
Sylos Labini Francesco
No associations
LandOfFree
Dynamics of finite and infinite self-gravitating systems with cold quasi-uniform initial conditions does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Dynamics of finite and infinite self-gravitating systems with cold quasi-uniform initial conditions, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Dynamics of finite and infinite self-gravitating systems with cold quasi-uniform initial conditions will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-699667