Simulated Dark-Matter Halos as a Test of Nonextensive Statistical Mechanics
Astrophysics
2009-06-23 v1 Statistical Mechanics
Abstract
In the framework of nonextensive statistical mechanics, the equilibrium structures of astrophysical self-gravitating systems are stellar polytropes, parameterized by the polytropic index n. By careful comparison to the structures of simulated dark-matter halos we find that the density profiles, as well as other fundamental properties, of stellar polytropes are inconsistent with simulations for any value of n. This result suggests the need to reconsider the applicability of nonextensive statistical mechanics (in its simplest form) to equilibrium self-gravitating systems.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.0801.2504,
title = {Simulated Dark-Matter Halos as a Test of Nonextensive Statistical Mechanics},
author = {Chloé Féron and Jens Hjorth},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0801.2504},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
Accepted for publication in Physical Review E