Energy and phase space mixing for self-gravitating systems of stars

Details Energy and phase space mixing for self-gravitating systems of stars Energy and phase space mixing for self-gravitating systems of stars

Apr 1993

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1993a%26a...271..440k&link_type=abstract

Astronomy and Astrophysics, Vol. 271, p. 440 (1993)

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

20

Kinematics And Dynamics Of Galaxies, Structure Of Galaxies

Scientific paper

This paper summarizes the results of a numerical investigation of the "mixing" or "violent relaxation" of self-gravitating systems of stars, as viewed in the one-particle energy space. Specific attention focuses on the degree to which, in a coarse-grained sense, individual stars do or do not "forget" their initial energies. The systems investigated include both (a) two-component spherical configurations, initially not in a collisionless equilibrium, and (b) collisions of identical galaxies, modeled initially as spherical n =3 polytropes. The principal conclusion is that, although "mixing" proceeds quite efficiently in the one-particle configuration and/or momentum space, it is considerably less efficient in the one-particle energy space. The energies of individual particles are not conserved, either exactly or in a coarse-grained sense. However, there is a coarse-grained sense in which, on the average, the ordering of the particle energies remains nearly constant, even when the overall energy distribution n(E) exhibits a very complicated evolution. This constancy indicates the existence of an approximate "mesoscopic" constraint, operative at the level of a coarse-grained distribution function, which restricts the possible outcome of "violent relaxation." It can, moreover, provide a useful diagnostic in ascertaining the degree to which a simulation is nearly collisionless.

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