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Dissertation
N-body simulations of star clusters
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Drexel University
Jun 1999
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/00000716
Abstract
We investigate the structure and evolution of underfilling (i.e. non-Roche-lobe-filling) King model globular star clusters using N-body simulations. We model clusters with various underfilling factors and mass distributions to determine their evolutionary tracks and lifetimes. These models include a self-consistent galactic tidal field, mass loss due to stellar evolution, ejection, and evaporation, and binary evolution. We find that a star cluster that initially does not fill its Roche lobe can live many times longer than one that does initially fill its Roche lobe. After a few relaxation times, the cluster expands to fill its Roche lobe. We also find that the choice of initial mass function significantly affects the lifetime of the cluster. These simulations were performed on the GRAPE-4 (GRAvity PipE) special-purpose hardware with the stellar dynamics package "Starlab." The GRAPE-4 system is a massively-parallel computer designed to calculate the force (and its first time derivative) due to N particles. Starlab's integrator "kira" employs a 4th-order Hermite scheme with hierarchical (block) time steps to evolve the stellar system. We discuss, in some detail, the design of the GRAPE-4 system and the manner in which the Hermite integration scheme with block time steps is implemented in the hardware.
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Details
- Title
- N-body simulations of star clusters
- Creators
- Kimberly Anne Engle
- Contributors
- Stephen L. W. McMillan (Advisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Drexel University
- Degree Awarded
- Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
- Publisher
- Drexel University; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Number of pages
- xv, 171 pages
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- College of Arts and Sciences; Physics; Drexel University
- Other Identifier
- 991014970318304721