Collisionless relaxation in gravitational systems: From violent relaxation to gravothermal collapse

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dc.creatorLevin, Yan
dc.creatorPakter, Renato
dc.creatorRizzato, Felipe B.
dc.date2008-08-22
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T09:57:58Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T09:57:58Z
dc.descriptionTheory and simulations are used to study collisionless relaxation of a gravitational $N$-body system. It is shown that when the initial one particle distribution function satisfies the virial condition -- potential energy is minus twice the kinetic energy -- the system quickly relaxes to a metastable state described {\it quantitatively} by the Lynden-Bell distribution with a cutoff. If the initial distribution function does not meet the virial requirement, the system undergoes violent oscillations, resulting in a partial evaporation of mass. The leftover particles phase separate into a core-halo structure. The theory presented allows us to quantitatively predict the amount and the distribution of mass left in the central core, without any adjustable parameters. On a longer time scale $τ_G \sim N$ collisionless relaxation leads to a gravothermal collapse.
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/0808.3092
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/0808.3092
dc.identifierPhys. Rev. E 78, 021130 (2008)
dc.identifierdoi:10.1103/PhysRevE.78.021130
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/167546
dc.subjectStatistical Mechanics
dc.subjectAstrophysics
dc.subjectOther Condensed Matter
dc.titleCollisionless relaxation in gravitational systems: From violent relaxation to gravothermal collapse
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