Related papers: Mass Segregation in Star Clusters
Mass segregation is seen in many star clusters, but whether massive stars form in the center of a cluster or migrate there dynamically is still debated. N-body simulations have shown that early dynamical mass segregation is possible when…
In this thesis we study several aspects of dynamical evolution of stellar clusters. The results of more than 200 simulations of single-mass star clusters with different initial total mass, half-mass radius and galactocentric distance, are…
Mass segregation is observed in many star clusters, including several that are less than a few Myr old. Timescale arguments are frequently used to argue that these clusters must be displaying primordial segregation, because they are too…
The observed properties of young star clusters, such as the core radius and luminosity profile, change rapidly during the early evolution of the clusters. Here we present observations of 6 young clusters in M51 where we derive their sizes…
In the first part of this article, we review observations of the mass and luminosity functions of young and old star cluster systems. We also review some of the physical processes that may determine the characteristic mass of globular…
Star clusters stand at the intersection of much of modern astrophysics: the interstellar medium, gravitational dynamics, stellar evolution, and cosmology. Here we review observations and theoretical models for the formation, evolution, and…
We investigate the properties and evolution of star particles in two simulations of isolated spiral galaxies, and two galaxies from cosmological simulations. Unlike previous numerical work, where typically each star particle represents one…
In many evolutionary stages, low- and intermediate-mass stars show signs of mixing of the surface material with material from the interior. To account for all the details revealed by the observations it is necessary to include non-standard…
Globular clusters are collisional systems, meaning that the stars inside them interact on timescales much shorter than the age of the Universe. These frequent interactions transfer energy between stars and set up observable trends that tell…
This paper addresses the questions of what we have learned about how and when dense star clusters form, and what studies of star clusters have revealed about galaxy formation and evolution. One important observation is that globular…
Dense star clusters expand until their sizes are limited by the tidal field of their host galaxy. During this expansion phase the member stars evolve and lose mass. We show that for clusters with short initial relaxation time scales (<~100…
Globular clusters are stellar dynamical systems which evolve on stellar evolutionary and both internal and external dynamical timescales. Quantitative comparison of cluster properties with realistic evolutionary dynamical models is becoming…
The past few years have seen dramatic improvements in the scope and realism of star cluster simulations. Accurate treatments of stellar evolution, coupled with robust descriptions of all phases of binary evolution, have been incorporated…
In this paper we use N-body simulations to study the effects of primordial mass segregation on the early and long-term evolution of star clusters. Our simulations show that in segregated clusters early mass loss due to stellar evolution…
We investigate the internal dynamics of anisotropic, rotating globular clusters with a multimass stellar population by performing new direct N-body simulations. In addition to the well-known radial mass segregation effect, where heavy stars…
We investigate the evolutionary nexus between the morphology and internal kinematics of the central regions of collisional, rotating, multi-mass stellar systems, with special attention to the spatial characterisation of the process of mass…
Dynamical evolution plays a key role in shaping the current properties of star clusters and star cluster systems. A detailed understanding of the effects of evolutionary processes is essential to be able to disentangle the properties which…
Star clusters are evolving n-body systems. We discuss the early dynamics of star clusters, the process of primordial mass segregation and clustering observed in certain young clusters. We discuss how the dynamics coupled with stellar…
We have studied the dynamical evolution of rotating globular clusters with direct $N$-body models. Our initial models are rotating King models; we obtained results for both equal-mass systems and systems composed out of two mass components.…
We study the dynamical evolution of idealised stellar systems by averaging results from many $N$-body simulations, each having modest numbers of stars. For isolated systems with stars of uniform mass, we discuss aspects of evolution up to…