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Dynamical Instabilities in Spherical Stellar Systems

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 August 2017

Joshua Barnes*
Affiliation:
Astronomy Department, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA

Abstract

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Equlibrium spherical stellar systems exhibiting instabilities on a dynamical timescale were first studied by Henon (1973), using a spherically symmetric N-body code. We have re-examined Henon's models using an improved code which includes non-radial forces to quadrupole order. In addition to the radial instability reported by Henon, two new non-radial instabilities are also observed. In one, found in models with highly circular orbits, the mass distribution exhibits quadrupole-mode oscillations. In the other, seen in models with highly radial orbits, the system spontaneously breaks spherical symmetry and settles into a tri-axial ellipsoid. These instabilities, which are driven by fluctuations of the mean field, offer some analogies to the well-known dynamical instabilities of a cold disk of stars. While our models are rather artificial, they indicate that dynamical instabilities may be more common in spherical systems than had been thought.

Information

Type
May 30: Model System in the Point-Mass Approximation
Copyright
Copyright © Reidel 1985