Related papers: An iterative method for the construction of N-body…
One widely used technique for the construction of equilibrium models of stellar disks is based on the Jeans equations and the moments of velocity distribution functions derived using these equations. Stellar disks constructed using this…
We describe an algorithm for constructing N-body realisations of equilibrium stellar systems. The algorithm complements existing orbit-based modelling techniques using linear programming or other optimization algorithms. The equilibria are…
We present a general scheme for constructing Monte Carlo realizations of equilibrium, collisionless galaxy models with known distribution function (DF) f_0. Our method uses importance sampling to find the sampling DF f_s that minimizes the…
We describe an improved, practical method for constructing galaxy models that match an arbitrary set of observational constraints, without prior assumptions about the phase-space distribution function (DF). Our method is an extension of…
We study the bar instability in collisionless, rotating, anisotropic, stellar systems, using N-body simulations and also the matrix technique for calculation of modes with the perturbed collisionless Boltzmann equation. These methods are…
We present a new method for constructing equilibrium phase models for stellar systems, which we call the iterative method. It relies on constrained, or guided evolution, so that the equilibrium solution has a number of desired parameters…
We describe a practical method for constructing axisymmetric two-integral galaxy models (with distribution functions of the form f(E,L_z), in which E is the orbital energy, and L_z is the vertical component of the angular momentum), based…
N-body simulations are essential for understanding the formation and evolution of structure in the Universe. However, the discrete nature of these simulations affects their accuracy when modelling collisionless systems. We introduce a new…
In this paper, we present our conclusions from the numerical study of the collapse of a destabilized collisionless stellar system. We use both direct integration of the Vlasov-Poisson equations and an N-body tree code to obtain our results,…
Starting from the probability distribution of finite N-body systems, which maximises the Havrda--Charv\'at entropy, we build a Stein-type goodness-of-fit test. The Maxwell--Boltzmann distribution is exact only in the thermodynamic limit,…
This paper discusses the possibility of constructing time-independent solutions to the collisionless Boltzmann equation which depend on quantities other than global isolating integrals such as energy and angular momentum. The key point is…
The made-to-measure N-body method (Syer & Tremaine 1996) slowly adapts the particle weights of an N-body model, whilst integrating the trajectories in an assumed static potential, until some constraints are satisfied, such as optimal fits…
(Abridged:) Schwarzschild's method was used to construct equilibrium solutions to the collisionless Boltzmann equation corresponding to a Plummer sphere, which were compared with analytical results to test the robustness of the numerical…
We present an implementation of the Schwarzschild orbit superposition method which can be used for constructing self-consistent equilibrium models of barred or non-barred disc galaxies, or of elliptical galaxies with figure rotation. This…
Among dynamical modeling techniques, the made-to-measure (M2M) method for modeling steady-state systems is among the most flexible, allowing non-parametric distribution functions in complex gravitational potentials to be modeled efficiently…
We investigate the old problem of the fast relaxation of collisionless $N$-body systems which are collapsing or perturbed, emphasizing the importance of (non-collisional) discreteness effects. We integrate orbit ensembles in fixed external…
Gas-poor galaxies can be modelled as composite collisionless stellar systems, with a dark matter halo and one or more stellar components, representing different stellar populations. The dynamical evolution of such composite systems is often…
We present Forstand, a new code for constructing dynamical models of galaxies with the Schwarzschild orbit-superposition method. These models are constrained by line-of-sight kinematic observations and applicable to galaxies of all…
Dense stellar systems such as globular clusters, galactic nuclei and nuclear star clusters are ideal loci to study stellar dynamics due to the very high densities reached, usually a million times higher than in the solar neighborhood; they…
The time irreversibility and fast relaxation of collapsing $N$-body gravitating systems (as opposed to the time reversibility of the equations of motion for individual stars or particles) are traditionally attributed to information loss due…