An iterative method for constructing equilibrium phase models of stellar systems
Abstract
We present a new method for constructing equilibrium phase models for stellar systems, which we call the iterative method. It relies on constrained, or guided evolution, so that the equilibrium solution has a number of desired parameters and/or constraints. This method is very powerful, to a large extent due to its simplicity. It can be used for mass distributions with an arbitrary geometry and a large variety of kinematical constraints. We present several examples illustrating it. Applications of this method include the creation of initial conditions for N-body simulations and the modelling of galaxies from their photometric and kinematic observations.
- Publication:
-
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Pub Date:
- January 2009
- DOI:
- 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.14110.x
- arXiv:
- arXiv:0808.1980
- Bibcode:
- 2009MNRAS.392..904R
- Keywords:
-
- methods: N-body simulations;
- galaxies: kinematics and dynamics;
- Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- 14 pages, 13 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRAS