Related papers: Chaos and chaotic phase mixing in cuspy triaxial p…
(Abridged) This paper studies chaotic orbit ensembles evolved in triaxial generalisations of the Dehnen potential which have been proposed to model ellipticals with a strong density cusp that manifest significant deviations from…
This paper summarises an investigation of chaos in a toy potential which mimics much of the behaviour observed for the more realistic triaxial generalisations of the Dehnen potentials, which have been used to model cuspy triaxial galaxies…
Cuspy triaxial potentials admit a large number of chaotic orbits, which moreover exhibit extreme "stickiness" that makes the process of chaotic mixing surprisingly inefficient. Environmental effects, modeled as noise and/or periodic…
We investigate the timescales for stochasticity and chaotic mixing in a family of triaxial potentials that mimic the distribution of light in elliptical galaxies. Some of the models include central point masses designed to represent nuclear…
This talk provides a progress report on an extended collaboration which has aimed to address two basic questions, namely: Should one expect to see cuspy, triaxial galaxies in nature? And can one construct realistic cuspy, triaxial…
Recent results on chaos in triaxial galaxy models are reviewed. Central mass concentrations like those observed in early-type galaxies -- either stellar cusps, or massive black holes -- render most of the box orbits in a triaxial potential…
This paper summarises a numerical investigation of phase mixing in time-independent Hamiltonian systems that admit a coexistence of regular and chaotic phase space regions, allowing also for low amplitude perturbations idealised as periodic…
This paper summarises an investigation of the effects of low amplitude noise and periodic driving on phase space transport in 3-D Hamiltonian systems, a problem directly applicable to systems like galaxies, where such perturbations reflect…
This paper explores how orbits in a galactic potential can be impacted by large amplitude time-dependences of the form that one might associate with galaxy or halo formation or strong encounters between pairs of galaxies. A period of…
Here I present a review of the work done on the presence and effects of chaos in elliptical galaxies plus some recent results we obtained on this subject. The fact that important fractions of the orbits that arise in potentials adequate to…
We use Schwarzschild's orbit superposition method to build self-consistent models of elliptical galaxies with scale-free potentials. Our exhaustive study of all physical shapes and central densities for galaxies with scale-free potentials…
This paper constructs an analytic form for a triaxial potential that describes the dynamics of a wide variety of astrophysical systems, including the inner portions of dark matter halos, the central regions of galactic bulges, and young…
We use both N-body simulations and integration in fixed potentials to explore the stability and the long-term secular evolution of self-consistent, equilibrium, non-rotating, triaxial spheroidal galactic models. More specifically, we…
Effect of noise in inducing order on various chaotically evolving systems is reviewed, with special emphasis on systems consisting of coupled chaotic elements. In many situations it is observed that the uncoupled elements when driven by…
We have constructed realistic, self-consistent models of triaxial elliptical galaxies embedded in triaxial dark matter halos. Self-consistent solutions by means of the standard orbital superposition technique introduced by Schwarzschild…
This paper examines discreteness effects in nearly collisionless N-body systems of charged particles interacting via an unscreened r^-2 force, allowing for bulk potentials admitting both regular and chaotic orbits. Both for ensembles and…
We investigate the chaos in the dynamics of a probe massless particle confined by the harmonic potential near the horizon of the dyonic $\rm{AdS_4}$-Reissner-Nordstr\"om black hole. The total energy of the particle, chemical potential and…
Everything you ever wanted to know about what has come to be known as ``chaotic mixing:'' This paper describes the evolution of localised ensembles of initial conditions in 2- and 3-D time-independent potentials which admit both regular and…
(Abridged:) Schwarzschild's method was used to construct equilibrium solutions to the collisionless Boltzmann equation corresponding to a Plummer sphere, which were compared with analytical results to test the robustness of the numerical…
Phase mixing of chaotic orbits exponentially distributes these orbits through their accessible phase space. This phenomenon, commonly called ``chaotic mixing'', stands in marked contrast to phase mixing of regular orbits which proceeds as a…