Publication Date:
2011-08-16
Description:
Several n-body calculations have simulated disk galaxies by means of a large number of self-gravitating particles moving on a plane, and have indicated many features in agreement with observation, but also some major disagreements. Some gaps remain in the arguments that results of these simulations represent physically valid consequences of a model in which a disk galaxy is composed entirely of stars. A new formulation of the n-body calculation was designed in polar coordinates, and results obtained with it are used to complete the arguments that the disagreement with observation represents a deficiency in the physical model. The physical process of formation of barlike or two-armed spiral structures from a variety of initial conditions is described; the mechanism is not an m = 2 instability in an initially axisymmetric configuration.
Keywords:
ASTROPHYSICS
Type:
Journal of Computational Physics; 21; Aug. 197
Format:
text
