An iterative method for constructing equilibrium phase models of stellar systems |
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| Authors: | S A Rodionov E Athanassoula N Ya Sotnikova |
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| Institution: | Sobolev Astronomical Institute, St Petersburg State University, Universitetskij pr. 28, 198504 St Petersburg, Stary Peterhof, Russia;Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille (LAM), UMR6110, CNRS/Universitéde Provence, Technopôle de Marseille-Etoile, 38 rue Frédéric Joliot Curie, 13388 Marseille Cédex 20, France |
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| 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. |
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| Keywords: | methods: N-body simulations galaxies: kinematics and dynamics |
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