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On the Dynamical Evolution of Clusters of Galaxies
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 February 2017
Extract
The theory of the dynamics of star clusters (cf. Spitzer 1975 for a review) is by now so well developed that we have, or think we have, a moderately accurate picture of the physical processes acting in and the overall evolution of spherical systems. in contrast, flattened and/or rotating systems are apparently subject to a variety of ill-understood instabilities which ultimately are a manifestation of the second law of thermodynamics; at given total energy, a system will tend to increase the fraction of its kinetic energy in disordered rather than ordered form. But spherical systems (globular clusters, elliptical galaxies, Morgan cD clusters of galaxies) are relatively smooth and featureless; they show little substructure indicating, presumably, that they are quite stable to perturbations of their fundamental normal modes, and they are normally modeled as rather “hot”, pressure supported systems.
- Type
- IV. Observational Evidence for Cosmological Evolution
- Information
- Symposium - International Astronomical Union , Volume 79: The Large Scale Structure of the Universe , 1978 , pp. 357 - 375
- Copyright
- Copyright © Reidel 1978
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