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Full-Text Articles in Astrophysics and Astronomy
The Dynamics Of Satellite Disruption In Cold Dark Matter Haloes, Jh Choi, Md Weinberg, N Katz
The Dynamics Of Satellite Disruption In Cold Dark Matter Haloes, Jh Choi, Md Weinberg, N Katz
Astronomy Department Faculty Publication Series
We investigate the physical mechanisms of tidal heating and satellite disruption in cold dark matter host haloes using N-body simulations based on cosmological initial conditions. We show the importance of resonant shocks and resonant torques with the host halo to satellite heating. A resonant shock (torque) couples the radial (tangential) motion of a satellite in its orbit to its phase space. For a satellite on a circular orbit, an inner Lindblad resonance (ILR)-like resonance dominates the heating and this heating results in continuous satellite mass loss. We estimate the requirements for simulations to achieve these dynamics using perturbation theory. Both …
Noise-Driven Evolution In Stellar Systems: Theory, Martin D. Weinberg
Noise-Driven Evolution In Stellar Systems: Theory, Martin D. Weinberg
Astronomy Department Faculty Publication Series
We present a theory for describing the evolution of a galaxy caused by stochastic events such as weak mergers, transient spiral structure, orbiting blobs, etc. This noise excites large-scale patterns that drives the evolution of the galactic density profile. In dark-matter haloes, the repeated stochastic perturbations preferentially ring the lowest-order modes of the halo with only a very weak dependence on the details of their source. Shaped by these modes, the profile quickly takes on a nearly self-similar form. We show that this form has the features of the “universal profile” reported by Navarro, Frenk, & White independent of initial …
Fluctuations In Finite N Equilibrium Stellar Systems, Martin D. Weinberg
Fluctuations In Finite N Equilibrium Stellar Systems, Martin D. Weinberg
Astronomy Department Faculty Publication Series
Gravitational amplification of Poisson noise in stellar systems is important on large scales. For example, it increases the dipole noise power by roughly a factor of six and the quadrupole noise by 50% for a King model profile. The dipole noise is amplified by a factor of fifteen for the core-free Hernquist model. The predictions are computed using the dressed-particle formalism of Rostoker & Rosenbluth (1960) and are demonstrated by n-body simulation. This result implies that a collisionless n-body simulation is impossible; The fluctuation noise which causes relaxation is an intrinic part of self gravity. In other words, eliminating two-body …