Related papers: Stellar Dynamics and Black Holes
We review the remarkable relationship between the laws of black hole mechanics and the ordinary laws of thermodynamics. It is emphasized that - in analogy with the laws of thermodynamics - the validity the laws of black hole mechanics does…
The new dynamical theory of space is further confirmed by showing that the black hole masses M_BH in 19 spherical star systems, from globular clusters to galaxies with masses M, satisfy the prediction that M_BH=(alpha/2)M, where alpha is…
The Gaia mission has triggered major developments in the field of Galactic dynamics in recent years, which we discuss in this review. The structure and kinematics of all Galactic components - disc, bar/bulge and halo - are now mapped in…
An important issue in the dynamics of neutron star binaries is whether tidal interaction can cause the individual stars to collapse into black holes during inspiral. To understand this issue better, we study the dynamics of a cluster of…
We derive a formalism, within the theory of linear response, for the analysis of the interaction of a satellite (the perturber) with a spherical galaxy whose equilibrium is described by a one-particle distribution function. We compute the…
We present a simplified analytic approach to the problem of the spiraling of a massive body orbiting within the dark halo of a dwarf galaxy. This dark halo is treated as the core region of a King distribution of dark matter particles, in…
This review discusses (i) dynamical methods for determining the masses of Galactic and extragalactic star clusters, (ii) dynamical processes and their time-scales for the evolution of clusters, including evaporation, mass segregation, core…
Many Local Group dwarf spheroidal galaxies are found in the Galactic halo along great circles in the sky. Some of these stellar systems are thought to be the fragments of larger parent galaxies which have once intruded into and were torn…
The observational evidence for the existence of a non-zero cosmological constant is getting stronger. It is therefore timely to address the question of its eventual effect on the dynamics of galaxies, clusters and larger structures in the…
Black holes are the elementary particles of gravity, the final state of sufficiently massive stars and of energetic collisions. With a forty-year long history, black hole physics is a fully-blossomed field which promises to embrace several…
Space-time wormholes were introduced in Wheeler's idea of space-time foam. Traversible wormholes as defined by Morris & Thorne became popular as potential short cuts across the universe and even time machines. More recently, the author…
Grigori Kuzmin was a very gifted dynamicist and one of the towering figures in the distinguished history of the Tartu Observatory. He obtained a number of important results in relative isolation which were later rediscovered in the West.…
I set the stage for discussion of the stellar populations in interacting galaxies by looking back over the slow development of our understanding of these systems. From early anecdotal collections, to systematic cataloging, and finally to…
This note aims to offer a non-technical and self-contained introduction to gravitational algebras and their applications in the nonequilibrium physics of gravitational systems. We begin by presenting foundational concepts from operator…
We investigate the in-spiraling timescales of globular clusters in dwarf spheroidal (dSph) and dwarf elliptical (dE) galaxies, due to dynamical friction. We address the problem of these timescales having been variously estimated in the…
We briefly review a number of important recent experimental and theoretical developments in the field of dynamic fracture. Topics include experimental validation of the equations of motion for straight tensile cracks (in both infinite media…
A variety of observational approaches have provided evidence for extended halos of dark matter surrounding elliptical galaxies, and for massive dark objects in (some of) their nuclei. What are the properties of the dark halos? How do they…
We present and validate a novel semi-analytical approach to study the effect of dynamical friction on the orbits of massive perturbers in rotating stellar discs. We find that dynamical friction efficiently circularises the orbit of…
We calculate the distribution function of astronomical objects (like galaxies and/or smooth halos of different kinds) gravitational fields due to their tidal in- teraction. For that we apply the statistical method of Chandrasekhar (1943),…
We follow the sinking of two massive black holes in a spherical stellar system where the black holes become bound under the influence of dynamical friction. Once bound, the binary hardens by three-body encounters with surrounding stars. We…