Related papers: Scattering, Migration, Re-circularization and Rela…
We show, using the N-body code GADGET-2, that stellar scattering by massive clumps can produce exponential discs, and the effectiveness of the process depends on the mass of scattering centres, as well as the stability of the galactic disc.…
Holes and clumps in the interstellar gas of dwarf irregular galaxies are gravitational scattering centers that heat field stars and change their radial and vertical distributions. Because the gas structures are extended and each stellar…
Stellar scattering off of orbiting or transient clumps is shown to lead to the formation of exponential profiles in both surface density and velocity dispersion in a two-dimensional non-self gravitating stellar disk with a fixed halo…
Stellar scattering off irregularities in a galaxy disk has been shown to make an exponential radial profile, but no fundamental reason for this has been suggested. Here we show that exponentials are mathematically expected from random…
(Abridged) The building blocks of galaxies are star clusters. These form with low-star formation efficiencies and, consequently, loose a large part of their stars that expand outwards once the residual gas is expelled by the action of the…
We present the results of a simple numerical model with phenomenological cloud growth and explosive disruption processes, and with fountain launched ballistic motions of disrupted cloud fragments out of the disk. These processes generate an…
Disk galaxies evolve over time through processes that may rearrange both the radial mass profile and the metallicity distribution within the disk. This review of such slow changes is largely, though not entirely, restricted to…
We study the distribution of orbital eccentricities of stars in thick disks generated by the heating of a pre-existing thin stellar disk through a minor merger (mass ratio 1:10), using N-body/SPH numerical simulations of interactions that…
Previous models have shown that stochastic scattering of stars in a two-dimensional galaxy disc can generate a time-independent surface density distribution that is an exponential divided by radius when a constant inward scattering bias is…
Gravitational scattering between massive planets has been invoked to explain the eccentricity distribution of extrasolar planets. For scattering to occur, the planets must either form in -- or migrate into -- an unstable configuration. In…
We study the orbital properties of stars in four (published) simulations of thick disks formed by: i) accretion from disrupted satellites, ii) heating of a pre-existing thin disk by a minor merger, iii) radial migration and iv) gas rich…
We consider the effects of eccentricity on the fragmentation of gravitationally unstable accretion disks, using numerical hydrodynamics. We find that eccentricity does not affect the overall stability of the disk against fragmentation, but…
Spiral patterns are important agents of galaxy evolution. In this review, I describe how the redistribution of angular momentum by recurrent transient spiral patterns causes the random speeds of stars to rise over time, metallicity…
Apparent exponential surface density profiles are nearly universal in galaxy discs across Hubble types, over a wide mass range, and a diversity of gravitational potential forms. Several processes have been found to produce exponential…
We identify a new secular instability of eccentric stellar disks around supermassive black holes. We show that retrograde precession of the stellar orbits, due to the presence of a stellar cusp, induces coherent torques that amplify…
We use N-body simulations to explore the influence of orbital eccentricity on the dynamical evolution of star clusters. Specifically we compare the mass loss rate, velocity dispersion, relaxation time, and the mass function of star clusters…
The Galactic disk retains a vast amount of information about how it came to be, and how it evolved over cosmic time. However, we know very little about the secular processes associated with disk evolution. One major uncertainty is the…
Observations in the past decade have revealed extrasolar planets with a wide range of orbital semimajor axes and eccentricities. Based on the present understanding of planet formation via core accretion and oligarchic growth, we expect that…
High redshift disc galaxies are more gas rich, clumpier, and more turbulent than local Universe galaxies. This early era of galaxy formation imprints the distribution and kinematics of the stars that we observe today, but it is not yet well…
Previous studies found that stellar scattering by massive clumps can lead to the formation of exponential profiles in galaxy discs, but details on how a star is moved around have not been fully explained. We use a GADGET-2 simulation where…