Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
1994-10-31
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
17 pages, uuencoded compressed postscript including 7 figures; to appear in ApJ part 1
Scientific paper
We study the rate of escape of stars (``evaporation'') from tidally-limited postcollapse globular clusters having a power-law distribution of stellar masses. We use a multi-mass Fokker-Planck code and assume a steady tidal field. Stellar-dynamical processes cause the inner parts of the cluster to expand, which in turn causes stars to overflow the tidal boundary. Mass loss by stellar evolution is assumed to be unimportant in these later evolutionary stages. The fraction of the cluster mass lost per half-mass relaxation time ($\trh$) is roughly constant, in agreement with simple homologous models with equal-mass stars. If $\trh$ is computed in the conventional way from the mean stellar mass, however, a broad stellar mass function can double the loss of mass per $\trh$. We discuss implications of our results for the evolution of globular-cluster systems in our own and other galaxies. In particular, the number of Galactic clusters destroyed by evaporation alone may be as large or larger than the present cluster population.
Goodman Jeremy
Lee Hyung Mok
No associations
LandOfFree
Influence of the Stellar Mass Function on the Evaporation Rate of Tidally Limited Postcollapse Globular Clusters 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 Influence of the Stellar Mass Function on the Evaporation Rate of Tidally Limited Postcollapse Globular Clusters, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Influence of the Stellar Mass Function on the Evaporation Rate of Tidally Limited Postcollapse Globular Clusters will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-103390