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Mass-loss from massive globular clusters in tidal fields

Massive globular clusters lose stars via internal and external processes. Internal processes include mainly two-body relaxation, while external processes include interactions with the Galactic tidal field. We perform a suite of N-body simulations of such massive clusters using three different direct...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Meiron, Yohai (Author) , Webb, Jeremy J (Author) , Hong, Jongsuk (Author) , Berczik, Peter (Author) , Spurzem, Rainer (Author) , Carlberg, Raymond G (Author)
Format: Article (Journal)
Language:English
Published: 2021 March 8
In: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Year: 2021, Volume: 503, Issue: 2, Pages: 3000-3009
ISSN:1365-2966
DOI:10.1093/mnras/stab649
Online Access:Verlag, lizenzpflichtig, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab649
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Author Notes:Yohai Meiron, Jeremy J. Webb, Jongsuk Hong, Peter Berczik, Rainer Spurzem and Raymond G. Carlberg
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Summary:Massive globular clusters lose stars via internal and external processes. Internal processes include mainly two-body relaxation, while external processes include interactions with the Galactic tidal field. We perform a suite of N-body simulations of such massive clusters using three different direct-summation N-body codes, exploring different Galactic orbits and particle numbers. By inspecting the rate at which a star’s energy changes as it becomes energetically unbound from the cluster, we can neatly identify two populations we call kicks and sweeps that escape through two-body encounters internal to the cluster and the external tidal field, respectively. We find that for a typical halo globular cluster on a moderately eccentric orbit, sweeps are far more common than kicks but the total mass-loss rate is so low that these clusters can survive for tens of Hubble times. The different N-body codes give largely consistent results, but we find that numerical artefacts may arise in relation to the time-step parameter of the Hermite integration scheme, namely that the value required for convergent results is sensitive to the number of particles.
Item Description:Gesehen am 24.02.2022
Physical Description:Online Resource
ISSN:1365-2966
DOI:10.1093/mnras/stab649

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