Applicability of the statistical mechanical theories of violent relaxation
Fundamental problems for statistical mechanical theories of violent relaxation that raise doubts about their applicability are examined. Shu's particle approach predicts a most probable final state that may not be accessible from the initial state, since access would require a violation of Liouville's theorem. Furthermore, it is not clear how to treat the initial shuffling in phase space of different types of particles properly in the particle approach. Lynden-Bell's phase-element approach incorporates Liouville's theorem and takes account of initial shuffling, but overestimates the fine-grained phase-space density of stars by many orders of magnitude (this problem can be cirumvented). Both theories lead in the nondegenerate limit to infinite mass isothermal spheres, which is inconsistent with the assumed finite mass of the initial state. A time-scale problem also remains in both theories. 10 references.
- Research Organization:
- Aarhus Universitet, Denmark
- OSTI ID:
- 6268868
- Journal Information:
- Astrophys. J.; (United States), Vol. 316
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Statistical mechanical theories of violent relaxation
ENTROPY PRODUCTION IN COLLISIONLESS SYSTEMS. II. ARBITRARY PHASE-SPACE OCCUPATION NUMBERS