6,241 research outputs found
Orbital Decay and Tidal Disruption of a Star Cluster: Analytical Calculation
The orbital decay and tidal disruption of a star cluster in a galaxy is
studied in an analytical manner. Owing to dynamical friction, the star cluster
spirals in toward the center of the galaxy. Simultaneously, the galactic tidal
field strips stars from the outskirts of the star cluster. Under an assumption
that the star cluster undergoes a self-similar evolution, we obtain the
condition and timescale for the star cluster to reach the galaxy center before
its disruption. The result is used to discuss the fate of so-called
intermediate-mass black holes with >10^3 M(sun) found recently in young star
clusters of starburst galaxies and also the mass function of globular clusters
in galaxies.Comment: 12 pages, 1 PS file for 2 figures, to appear in The Astrophysical
Journa
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