How faithful are N-body simulations of disc galaxies?
Journal article, 1994

High-softening two-dimensional models, frequently employed in N-body experiments, do not provide faithful simulations of real galactic discs. A prescription [Eqs. (17) and (18)] is given for choosing meaningful values of the softening length in standard regimes of astrophysical interest, when both the stellar and gaseous components are present. In addition, a stability criterion [Eq. (10); see also Eq. (11)] is given for choosing meaningful input values of the Toomre parameter for a given softening length. Such a criterion should also provide a key to the correct interpretation of computational results in terms of real phenomena.

Author

Alessandro Romeo

Chalmers, Onsala Space Observatory

Astronomy and Astrophysics

0004-6361 (ISSN) 1432-0746 (eISSN)

Vol. 286 799-806

Subject Categories

Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology

Roots

Basic sciences

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Created

10/7/2017