Related papers: Interrupted Stellar Encounters in Star Clusters
Stars often reside in binary configurations. The nuclear star cluster surrounding the supermassive black hole (SMBH) in the Galactic Center (GC) is expected to include a binary population. In this dense environment, a binary frequently…
Recent surveys of star forming regions have shown that most stars, and probably all massive stars, are born in dense stellar clusters. The mechanism by which a molecular cloud fragments to form several hundred to thousands of individual…
Instabilities in planetary systems can result in the ejection of planets from their host system, resulting in free-floating planets (FFPs). If this occurs in a star cluster, the FFP may remain bound to the star cluster for some time and…
We use direct N-body simulations of gas embedded star clusters to study the importance of stellar collisions for the formation and mass accretion history of high-mass stars. Our clusters start in virial equilibrium as a mix of gas and…
Star clusters provide an excellent opportunity to study the role of environment on determining the frequencies of short period planets. They provide a large sample of stars which can be imaged simultaneously, with a common distance, age and…
Three-body effects greatly complicate stellar evolution. We model the effects of encounters of binaries with single stars, based on parameters chosen from conditions prevalent in the cores of globular clusters. For our three-body…
The Galactic bulge is a tumultuous dense region of space, packed with stars separated by far smaller distances than those in the Solar neighborhood. A quantification of the frequency and proximity of close stellar encounters in this…
The realization that most stars form in clusters, raises the question of whether star/planet formation are influenced by the cluster environment. The stellar density in the most prevalent clusters is the key factor here. Whether dominant…
The fraction of stars in binary systems within star clusters is important for their evolution, but what proportion of binaries form by dynamical processes after initial stellar accretion remains unknown. In previous work, we showed that…
We systematically study the effects of collisions on the overall dynamical evolution of dense star clusters using Monte Carlo simulations over many relaxation times. We derive many observable properties of these clusters, including their…
Dense stellar systems such as globular clusters are believed to harbor merging binary black holes (BHs). The evolution of such binaries is driven by interactions with other stars, most notably, binary-single interactions. Traditionally,…
The young star clusters we observe today are the building blocks of a new generation of stars and planets in our Galaxy and beyond. Despite their fundamental role we still lack knowledge about the conditions under which star clusters form…
[ABRIDGED] Since the discovery of the first transiting extrasolar planet, transit timing has been recognized as a powerful method to discover and characterize additional planets in these systems. However, the gravitational influence of…
We perform the largest currently available set of direct N-body calculations of young star cluster models to study the dynamical influence, especially through the ejections of the most massive star in the cluster, on the current relation…
We explore the behaviour of accreting protoclusters with a Monte Carlo dynamical code in order to evaluate the relative roles of accretion, two body relaxation and stellar collisions in the cluster evolution. We corroborate the suggestion…
Rotation is thought to be a major factor in the evolution of massive stars, especially at low metallicity, with consequences for their chemical yields, ionizing flux and final fate. Determining the natal rotation-rate distribution of stars…
Planetary systems with more than two bodies will experience orbital crossings at a time related to the initial orbital separations of the planets. After a crossing, the system enters a period of chaotic evolution ending in the reshaping of…
Most massive stars are found in the center of dense clusters, and have a companion fraction much higher than their lower mass siblings; the massive stars of the Trapezium core in Orion have ~ 1.5 companions each. This high multiplicity…
The preponderance of binary systems in all known stellar populations makes them exciting dynamical agents for research on topics as varied as star formation, star-cluster dynamics and the interiors of young and old stars. Today we know that…
We investigate how the formation and evolution of extrasolar planetary systems can be affected by stellar encounters that occur in the crowded conditions of a stellar cluster. Using plausible estimates of cluster evolution, we show how…