Dynamical Evolution of Compact Groups

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

Scientific paper

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Scientific paper

The dynamical evolution of compact groups (beginning from virial equilibrium) is explored by using self-consistent N-body simulations employing Hernquist's implementation of the Barnes-Hut tree algorithm. Ten percent of the N=5000 equal-mass particles are identified as luminous matter and are apportioned among five equal-mass galaxies. The remaining `dark' particles are placed in the halos of the galaxies or in the intra-cluster medium (ICM); the ICM mass fraction is varied between 0--90\ The initial configuration of the group is a W0=7 King model; the galaxies are also King models, with the luminous core being the 100 most bound particles. The first merger of two galaxies occurs near the center of the cluster, usually within one or two dynamical times of the beginning of the simulation; the product of this merger is quickly involved in further merging. This process is found to take longer as less mass is put into the galaxy halos, consistent with the work of Barnes. For 0\ dynamical time ( ~ 0.8 Gyr), while for 75\ two dynamical times. Increasing the ICM mass fraction from 75% delays the onset of merging by a greater amount; merging begins only after 4--6 dynamical times in the latter case. Because the luminous matter in the cores of the galaxies becomes segregated near the center of the group, estimates of the virial mass calculated from this matter alone are lower than the true mass by a factor of 2 or more, in agreement with the studies of Barnes and of West & Richstone. Preliminary results for models of clusters containing ten and fifty galaxies (the latter with a Schechter function mass distribution) are also presented.

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