Related papers: A semi-analytic dynamical friction model for cored…
We present a new semi-analytic model for dynamical friction based on Chandrasekhar's formalism. The key novelty is the introduction of physically motivated, radially varying, maximum and minimum impact parameters. With these, our model…
Using analytic calculations and N-body simulations we show that in constant density (harmonic) cores, sinking satellites undergo an initial phase of very rapid (super-Chandrasekhar) dynamical friction, after which they experience no…
Dynamical friction governs the orbital decay of massive perturbers within galaxies and dark matter halos, yet its standard Chandrasekhar formulation fails in systems with cores of (roughly) constant density, where inspiral can halt or even…
Dynamical friction is an important phenomena in stellar dynamics resulting in the slowing down of a test particle upon many two-body scatters with background particles. Chandrasekhar's original formulation, developed for idealized infinite…
Dynamical friction is often modeled with reasonable accuracy by the widely used Chandrasekhar formula. However, in some circumstances, Chandrasekhar's local and uniform approximations can break down severely. An astrophysically important…
For a rigid model satellite, Chandrasekhar's dynamical friction formula describes the orbital evolution quite accurately, when the Coulomb logarithm is chosen appropriately. However, it is not known if the orbital evolution of a real…
A fully analytical formulation is developed to make dynamical friction modeling more realistic. The rate for a satellite to decay its orbit in a host galaxy halo is often severely overestimated when applying ChandraSekhar's formula without…
We study the dynamical response of extended systems, hosts, to smaller systems, satellites, orbiting around the hosts using extremely high-resolution N-body simulations with up to one billion particles. This situation corresponds to minor…
When a satellite galaxy falls into a massive dark matter halo, it suffers the dynamical friction force which drag it into the halo center and finally it merger with the central galaxy. The time interval between entry and merger is called as…
The motion of a point like object of mass $M$ passing through the background potential of massive collisionless particles ($m << M$) suffers a steady deceleration named dynamical friction. In his classical work, Chandrasekhar assumed a…
Dynamical friction is the process responsible for matter transport toward the inner regions of galaxies in form of massive objects, like intermediate mass black holes, globular clusters and small satellite galaxies. While very bright…
In this paper we treat the problem of the dynamical friction decay of a massive object moving in an elliptical galaxy with a cuspidal inner distribution of the mass density. We present results obtained by both self-consistent, direct…
How fast a satellite decays its orbit depends on how slowly its mass is lost by tide. Motivated by inner halo satellite remnants like the Sgr and Omega Cen, we develop fully analytical models to study the orbital decay and tidal massloss of…
The main goal of this paper is to set up a numerical laboratory for the study of the slow evolution of the density and of the pressure tensor profiles of an otherwise collisionless stellar system, as a result of the interactions with a…
The evolution of a small satellite inside a more massive truncated isothermal spherical halo is studied using both the Theory of Linear Response for dynamical friction and N-Body simulations. The analytical approach includes the effects of…
In this paper we study the infall, by dynamical friction, of rigid "satellites" taken in a variety of initial configurations and models. We thus measure how dynamical friction depends on the density concentration and on the pressure…
In the framework of the fluctuation-dissipation approach to dynamical friction, we derive an expression giving the orbital energy exchange experienced by a compound body as it moves interacting with a non homogeneous discrete background.…
The motion of a point like object of mass M passing through the background potential of massive collisionless particles (m << M) suffers a steady deceleration named dynamic friction. In his classical work, Chandrasekhar assumed a Maxwellian…
An introductory exposition of Chandrasekhar's gravitational dynamical friction, appropriate for an undergraduate class in mec hanics, is presented. This friction results when a massive particle moving through a ``sea'' of much lighter star…
We consider the orbital evolution of satellites in galaxy mergers, focusing on the evolution of eccentricity. Using a large suite of N-body simulations, we study the phenomenon of satellite orbital radialization -- a profound increase in…