Equilibrium stellar systems with spindle singularities
- Creators
- Shapiro, Stuart L.
- Teukolsky, Saul A.
Abstract
We construct equilibrium sequences of axisymmetric Newtonian clusters that tend toward singular states. The distribution functions are chosen to be of the form f=/(E, J_z). The numerical method then determines the density and gravitational potential self-consistently to satisfy Poisson's equation. For the prolate models, spindle singularities arise from the depletion of angular momentum near the symmetry axis. While the resulting density enhancement is confined to the region near the axis, the influence of the spindle extends much further out through its tidal gravitational field. Centrally condensed prolate clusters may contain strong-field regions even though the spindle mass is small and the mean cluster eccentricity is not extreme. While the calculations performed here are entirely Newtonian, the issue of singularities is an important topic in general relativity. Equilibrium solutions for relativistic star clusters can provide a testing ground for exploring this issue. The methods used in this paper for building nonspherical clusters can be extended to relativistic systems.
Additional Information
© 1992. The American Astronomical Society. Received 1991 July 19; accepted 1991 September 26. This work has been supported in part by National Science Foundation grants AST 90-15451 and PHY 90-07834, and NASA grant NAGW-2364 at Cornell University.Attached Files
Published - 1992ApJ___388__287S.pdf
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 86870
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20180606-163526118
- AST 90-15451
- NSF
- PHY 90-07834
- NSF
- NAGW-2364
- NASA
- Created
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2018-06-07Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-15Created from EPrint's last_modified field