Approximate dynamics of dark matter ellipsoids

The collapse of non-collisional dark matter and the formation of pancake structures in the Universe are investigated approximately. Collapse is described by a system of ordinary differential equations, in the model of a uniformly rotating, three-axis, uniform density ellipsoid. Violent relaxation, mass and angular momentum losses are taken into account phenomenologically. The formation of the equilibrium configuration, secular instability and the transition from a spheroid to a three-axis ellipsoid are investigated numerically and analytically in this dynamical model.