Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2006-05-10
Mon.Not.Roy.Astron.Soc.370:681-690,2006
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Accepted for publication in MNRAS (11 pages, 10 figures)
Scientific paper
10.1111/j.1365-2966.2006.10531.x
By means of high-resolution N-body simulations we revisited the dissipationless collapse scenario for galaxy formation. We considered both single-component collapses and collapses of a cold stellar distribution in a live dark matter halo. Single-component collapses lead to stellar systems whose projected profiles are fitted very well by the Sersic R^(1/m) law with 3.6 < m < 8. The stellar end-products of collapses in a dark matter halo are still well described by the R^(1/m) law, but with 1.9 < m < 12, where the lowest m values are obtained when the halo is dominant. In all the explored cases the profiles at small radii deviate from their global best-fit R^(1/m) model, being significantly flatter. The break-radius values are comparable with those measured in `core' elliptical galaxies, and are directly related to the coldness of the initial conditions. The dissipationless collapse of initially cold stellar distributions in pre-existing dark matter haloes may thus have a role in determining the observed weak homology of elliptical galaxies.
Ciotti Luca
Londrillo Pasquale
Nipoti Carlo
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