arXiv subjects

Alessandra Mastrobuono-Battisti

Publications and source records attributed to Alessandra Mastrobuono-Battisti.

47 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2016

Second generation stellar disks in Dense Star Clusters and cluster ellipticities

Globular Clusters (GCs) and Nuclear Star Clusters (NSCs) are typically composed by several stellar populations, characterized by different chemical compositions. Different populations show different ages in NSCs but not necessarily in GCs. The youngest populations in NSCs appear to reside in disk-like structures, as observed in our Galaxy and in M31. Gas infall followed by formation of second generation (SG) stars in GCs may similarly form disk-like structures in the clusters nuclei. Here we explore this possibility and follow the long term evolution of stellar disks embedded in GCs, and study their effects on the evolution of the clusters. We study disks with different masses by means of detailed N-body simulations and explore their morphological and kinematic signatures on the GC structures. We find that as a second generation disk relaxes, the old, first generation, stellar population flattens and becomes more radially anisotropic, making the GC structure become more elliptical. The second generation stellar population is characterized by a lower velocity dispersion, and a higher rotational velocity, compared with the primordial older population. The strength of these kinematic signatures depends both on the relaxation time of the system and on the fractional mass of the second generation disk. We therefore conclude that SG populations formed in flattened configurations will give rise to two systematic trends: (1) Positive correlation between GC ellipticity and fraction of SG population (2) Positive correlation between GC relaxation time and ellipticity. Thereby GC ellipticities and rotation could be related to the formation of SG stars and their initial configuration.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2015

A primordial origin for the composition similarity between the Earth and the Moon

Most of the properties of the Earth-Moon system can be explained by a collision between a planetary embryo and the growing Earth late in the accretion process. Simulations show that most of the material that eventually aggregates to form the Moon originates from the impactor. However, analysis of the terrestrial and lunar isotopic composition show them to be highly similar. In contrast, the compositions of other solar system bodies are significantly different than the Earth and Moon. This poses a major challenge to the giant impact scenario since the Moon-forming impactor is then thought to also have differed in composition from the proto-Earth. Here we track the feeding zones of growing planets in a suite of simulations of planetary accretion, in order to measure the composition of Moon-forming impactors. We find that different planets formed in the same simulation have distinct compositions, but the compositions of giant impactors are systematically more similar to the planets they impact. A significant fraction of planet-impactor pairs have virtually identical compositions. Thus, the similarity in composition between the Earth and Moon could be a natural consequence of a late giant impact.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2014

Effects of Intermediate Mass Black Holes on Nuclear Star Clusters

Nuclear star clusters (NSCs) are dense stellar clusters observed in galactic nuclei, typically hosting a central massive black hole. Here we study the possible formation and evolution of NSCs through the inspiral of multiple star clusters hosting intermediate mass black holes (IMBHs). Using an N-body code we examine the dynamics of the IMBHs and their effects on the NSC. We find that IMBHs inspiral to the core of the newly formed NSC and segregate there. Although the IMBHs scatter each other and the stars, none of them is ejected from the NSC. The IMBHs are excited to high eccentricities and their radial density profile develops a steep power-law cusp. The stars also develop a power-law cusp (instead of the central core that forms in their absence), but with a shallower slope. The relaxation rate of the NSC is accelerated due to the presence of IMBHs, which act as massive-perturbers. This in turn fills the loss-cone and boosts the tidal disruption rate of stars both by the MBH and the IMBHs to a value excluded by rate estimates based on current observations. Rate estimates of tidal disruptions can therefore provide a cumulative constraint on the existence of IMBHs in NSCs.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2014

Age and mass segregation of multiple stellar populations in galactic nuclei and their observational signatures

Nuclear stellar cluster (NSCs) are known to exist around massive black holes (MBHs) in galactic nuclei. They are thought to have formed through in-situ star formation following gas inflow to the nucleus of the galaxy and/or through the infall of multiple stellar clusters. Here we study the latter, and explore the composite structure of the NSC, and its relation to the various stellar populations originating from its progenitor infalling clusters. We use N-body simulations of clusters infall, and show that this scenario may produce observational signatures in the form of age segregation: the distribution of the stellar properties (e.g. stellar age and/or metallicity) in the NSCs reflect the infall history of the different clusters. The stellar populations of clusters infalling at different times (dynamical ages), are differentially segregated in the NSC, and are not fully mixed even after few Gyrs of evolution. Moreover, the radial properties of stellar populations in the progenitor cluster are mapped to their radial distribution in the final NSC, potentially leading to efficient mass segregation in NSCs, even those where relaxation times are longer than a Hubble time. Finally, the overall structures of the stellar populations present non-spherical configurations and show significant cluster to cluster population differences.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2013

Evolution of second generation stars in stellar disks of globular and nuclear clusters: Omega Centauri as a test case

Globular clusters (GCs) and many nuclear clusters (NCs) show evidence for hosting multiple generations of stellar populations. Younger stellar populations in NCs appear to reside in disk like structures, including the nuclear cluster in our own Galactic center as well as in M31. Kinematic studies of the anomalous globular cluster Omega Centauri, thought to possibly be a former dwarf galaxy (or a galactic nucleus), show evidence for its hosting of a central, kinematically cold disk component. These observations suggest that formation of second (or multiple) generation stars may occur in flattened disk like structures. Here we use detailed N-body simulations to explore the possible evolution of such stellar disks, embedded in globular clusters. We follow the long term evolution of a disk like structure similar to that observed in Omega Centauri and study its properties. We find that a stellar-disk like origin for second generation stellar populations can leave behind significant kinematic signatures in properties of the clusters, including an anisotropic distribution, and lower velocity dispersions, which can be used to constrain the origin of second generations stars and their dynamical evolution.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2013

On the origin of the clumpy streams of Palomar 5

In this paper we report a study (see Mastrobuono-Battisti et al., 2012) about the formation and characteristics of the tidal tails around Palomar 5 along its orbit in the Milky Way potential, by means of direct N-body simulations and simplified numerical models. Unlike previous findings, we are able to reproduce the substructures observed in the stellar streams of this cluster, without including any lumpiness in the dark matter halo. We show that overdensities similar to those observed in Palomar 5 can be reproduced by the epicyclic motion of stars along its tails, i.e. a simple local accumulation of orbits of stars that escaped from the cluster with very similar positions and velocities. This process is able to form stellar clumps at distances of several kiloparsecs from the cluster, so it is not a phenomenon confined to the inner part of Palomar 5's tails, as previously suggested.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2012

Clumpy streams in a smooth dark halo: the case of Palomar 5

By means of direct N-body simulations and simplified numerical models, we study the formation and characteristics of the tidal tails around Palomar 5, along its orbit in the Milky Way potential. Unlike previous findings, we are able to reproduce the substructures observed in the stellar streams of this cluster, without including any lumpiness in the dark matter halo. We show that overdensities similar to those observed in Palomar 5 can be reproduced by the epicyclic motion of stars along its tails, i.e. a simple local accumulation of orbits of stars that escaped from the cluster with very similar positions and velocities. This process is able to form stellar clumps at distances of several kiloparsecs from the cluster, so it is not a phenomenon confined to the inner part of Palomar 5's tails, as previously suggested. Our models can reproduce the density contrast between the clumps and the surrounding tails found in the observed streams, without including any lumpiness in the dark halo, suggesting new upper limits on its granularity.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2012

Dissipationless Formation and Evolution of the Milky Way Nuclear Star Cluster

Abridged: In one widely discussed model for the formation of nuclear star clusters (NSCs), massive globular clusters spiral into the center of a galaxy and merge to form the nucleus. It is now known that at least some NSCs coexist with supermassive black holes (SBHs); this is the case, for instance, in the Milky Way (MW). In this paper, we investigate how the presence of a SMBH at the center of the MW impacts the merger hypothesis for the formation of its NSC. Starting from a model consisting of a low-density nuclear stellar disk and the SMBH, we use N-body simulations to follow the successive inspiral and merger of globular clusters. The clusters are started on circular orbits of radius 20 pc, and their initial masses and radii are set up in such a way as to be consistent with the galactic tidal field at that radius. The total accumulated mass by ~10 clusters is about 1.5x10^7 Solar masses. Each cluster is disrupted by the SMBH at a distance of roughly one parsec. The density profile that results after the final inspiral event is characterized by a core of roughly this radius, and an envelope with density that falls off as 1/r^2. These properties are similar to those of the MW NSC, with the exception of the core size, which in the MW is a little smaller. But by continuing the evolution of the model after the final inspiral event, we find that the core shrinks substantially via gravitational encounters in a time (when scaled to the MW) of 10 Gyr as the stellar distribution evolves toward a Bahcall-Wolf cusp. We also show that the luminosity function of the MW NSC is consistent with the hypothesis that a large fraction of the mass comes from (~10Gyr) old stars, brought in by globular clusters. We conclude that a model in which a large fraction of the mass of the MW NSC arose from infalling globular clusters is consistent with existing observational constraints.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2011

The Formation of the Milky Way Nuclear Cluster

Nuclear Star Clusters are observed at the center of many galaxies. In particular in the center of the Milky Way the Nuclear Star Cluster coexists with a cen- tral supermassive black hole. The origin of these clusters is still unknown; a possible formation mechanism is the decay of massive globular clusters driven inward to the galactic center by dynamical friction and their subsequent merging. By investigating this scenario by means of sophisticated N-body simulations we found that this process could lead to a final product which actually shows many of the observed features of the Milky Way Nuclear Star Cluster.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2011

The Milky Way Nuclear Star Cluster

In the center of the Milky Way, as well as in many other galaxies, a compact star cluster around a very massive black hole is observed. One of the possible explanations for the formation of such Nuclear Star Clusters is based on the 'merging' of globular clusters in the inner galactic potential well. By mean of sophisticated N-body simulations, we checked the validity of this hypothesis and found that it may actually has been the one leading to the formation of the Milky Way Nuclear Star Cluster.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2009

Globular Cluster System erosion in elliptical galaxies

In this paper we analyze data of 8 elliptical galaxies in order to study the difference between their globular cluster systems (GCSs) radial distributions and those of the galactic stellar component. In all the galaxies studied here the globular cluster system density profile is significantly flatter toward the galactic centre than that of stars. If this difference is interpreted as a depauperation of the initial GC population, the estimated number of missing globular clusters is significant, ranging from 21% to 71% of their initial population abundance in the eight galaxies examined. The corresponding mass lost to the central galactic region is 7x10^7-1.85x10^9 solar masses. All this mass carried toward central galactic regions have likely had an important feedback on the innermost galactic region, including its violent transient activity (AGN) and local massive black hole formation and growth.

astro-ph.CO↗