Related papers: Mass Segregation in Star Clusters: Analytic Estima…
We study the stellar cluster population in two adjacent fields in the nearby, face-on spiral galaxy, M83, using WFC3/HST imaging. The clusters are selected through visual inspection to be centrally concentrated, symmetric, and resolved on…
We show that the mass-segregation solution for the steady state distribution of stars around a massive black hole (MBH) has two branches: the known weak segregation solution (Bahcall & Wolf 1977), and a newly discovered strong segregation…
A new approach to the study of the large-scale stellar cluster distribution in the Galaxy based on two-point correlation techniques is presented. The basic formalism for this method is outlined and its applications are then investigated by…
We present a model to explain the mass segregation and shallow mass functions observed in the central parts of dense and young starburst stellar clusters. The model assumes that the initial pre-stellar cores mass function resulting from the…
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…
In this paper we report results of collisional N-body simulations of the dynamical evolution of equal-mass star clusters containing a massive central black hole. Each cluster is composed of between 5,000 to 180,000 stars together with a…
We analyse high-resolution Hubble Space Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys imaging of the nuclear starburst region of M82, obtained as part of the Hubble Heritage mosaic made of this galaxy, in four filters (Johnson-Cousins equivalent B,…
Observations of the spatial distributions of young stars in star-forming regions can be linked to the theory of clustered star formation using spatial statistical methods. The MYStIX project provides rich samples of young stars from the…
We study the process of mass segregation through 2-body relaxation in galactic nuclei with a central massive black hole (MBH). This study has bearing on a variety of astrophysical questions, from the distribution of X-ray binaries at the…
Star clusters are ideal tracers of star formation activity in systems outside the volume that can be studied using individual, resolved stars. These unresolved clusters span orders of magnitude in brightness and mass, and their formation is…
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…
Mass segregation, a tendency of more massive galaxies being distributed closer to the cluster center, is naturally expected from dynamical friction, but its presence is still controversial. Using deep optical observations of 14 Abell…
We investigate the triggering of star formation and the formation of stellar clusters in molecular clouds that form as the ISM passes through spiral shocks. The spiral shock compresses gas into $\sim$100 pc long main star formation ridge,…
We present results from dynamical Monte Carlo simulations of dense star clusters near the Galactic center. These clusters sink toward the center of the Galaxy by dynamical friction. During their inspiral, they may undergo core collapse and…
We present the results of a set of N-body simulations aimed at exploring how the process of mass segregation (as traced by the spatial distribution of blue straggler stars, BSSs) is affected by the presence of a population of heavy dark…
Following the discovery of a black hole (BH) with a mass of 10^3-10^6 M(sun) in a starburst galaxy M82, we study formation of such a BH via successive merging of stellar-mass BHs within a star cluster. The merging has a runaway…
This short document illustrates QLUSTER: a toy model for populations of binary black holes in dense astrophysical environments. QLUSTER is a simple tool to investigate the occurrence and properties of hierarchical black-hole mergers…
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…
An overview of our current understanding of the formation and evolution of star clusters is given, with main emphasis on high-mass clusters. Clusters form deeply embedded within dense clouds of molecular gas. Left-over gas is cleared within…
If the stellar population of the bulge contains black holes formed in the final core collapse of ordinary stars with M \ga 30 M_{\odot}, then about 25,000 stellar mass black holes should have migrated by dynamical friction into the central…