Related papers: Taking apart the dynamical clock. Fat-tailed dynam…
We study binary stars moving through a uniform dark matter background and experiencing dynamical friction. The centre-of-mass motion of the pairs is taken into account. We derive formulas and timescales for the secular evolution of the…
We use the IllustrisTNG simulations to explore the dynamic scaling relation between massive clusters and their central galaxies (BCGs). The Illustris TNG300-1 simulation we use includes 280 massive clusters with $M_{200} > 10^{14}$…
Dynamical friction implies a consistency check on any system where dark matter particles are hypothesised to explain orbital dynamics requiring more mass under Newtonian gravity than is directly detectable. Introducing the assumption of a…
We study the joint effect of tidal torques and dynamical friction on the collapse of density peaks solving numerically the equations of motion of a shell of barionic matter falling into the central regions of a cluster of galaxies. We…
We present a series of simple, largely analytical models to compute the effects of disruption on the mass function of star clusters. Our calculations include evaporation by two-body relaxation and gravitational shocks and mass loss by…
The secular evolution of disk galaxies is largely driven by resonances between the orbits of 'particles' (stars or dark matter) and the rotation of non-axisymmetric features (spiral arms or a bar). Such resonances may also explain kinematic…
Blue Stragglers are stars located in an unexpected region of the color-magnitude diagram of a stellar population, as they appear bluer and more luminous than the stars in the turnoff region. They are ubiquitous, since they have been found…
We analyse how drag forces modify the orbits of objects moving through extended gaseous distributions. We consider how hydrodynamic (surface area) drag forces and dynamical friction (gravitational) drag forces drive the evolution of orbital…
In previous papers of this series, we developed a new algorithm for modeling the formation of star clusters in galaxy formation simulations. Here we investigate how dissolution of bound star clusters affects the shape of the cluster mass…
We construct a model for the Galactic globular cluster system based on a realistic gravitational potential and a distribution function (DF) analytic in the action integrals. The DF comprises disc and halo components whose functional forms…
In a disc galaxy the distribution of azimuthal components of velocity is very skew. In the past this skewness has been modelled by superposed Gaussians. We use dynamical arguments to derive an analytic formula that can be fitted to observed…
By using high-resolution spectra acquired with FLAMES-GIRAFFE at the ESO/VLT, we measured radial and rotational velocities for 110 Blue Straggler stars (BSSs) in Omega Centauri, the globular cluster-like stellar system harboring the largest…
We present preliminary results obtained from the comparison of the specific frequencies of Blue Straggler Stars (BSS) detected so far in a sample of 26 Galactic globular clusters. The number of BSS seems to increase almost linearly with…
The relaxation time at the half-mass radius of Galactic globular clusters (GGCs) is typically within a few Gyr. Hence, the majority of GGCs are expected to be well relaxed systems, given their age is around 12-13 Gyr. So any initial radial…
Fragmentation and fission of giant molecular clouds occasionally results in a pair of gravitationally bound star clusters that orbit their mutual centre of mass for some time, under the influence of internal and external perturbations. We…
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…
The level of central segregation of Blue Straggler stars proved to be an excellent tracer of the dynamical evolution of old star clusters (the so-called "dynamical clock"), both in the Milky Way and in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The…
Stars with circumstellar disks may form in environments with high stellar and gas densities which affects the disks through processes like truncation from dynamical encounters, ram pressure stripping, and external photoevaporation.…
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…
The central regions of six Galactic Globular Clusters (GGCs) (M3, M80, M10, M13, M92 and NGC 288) have been imaged using HST-WFPC2 and the ultraviolet (UV) filters (F255W, F336W). The selected sample covers a large range in both central…