arXiv subjects

J. Dabringhausen

Publications and source records attributed to J. Dabringhausen.

14 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2022

Differences between the globular cluster systems of the Virgo and Fornax Galaxy Clusters

It is well known that Globular cluster systems are different among galaxies. Here we test to which degree these differences remain on the scale of galaxy clusters by comparing the globular clusters (GCs) in optical surveys of the Virgo galaxy cluster (ACSVCS) and the Fornax galaxy cluster (ACSFCS) in Kolmogorov-Smirnoff Tests. Both surveys were obtained with the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) on board the Hubble Space Telescope, and contain thousands of GCs in dozens of galaxies each. Also well over 100 point sources in the Chandra X-ray Observatory source catalogue were attributed to the GCs in both optical catalogues, and interpreted as low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs). Thus, the optical and X-ray data are as uniform as possible. Our main findings are as follows: (1) The spread in luminosities and half-light radii is larger in the ACSVCS than in the ACSFCS. (2) The ratio between the half-light radii for the F475W-passband and the F850LP-passband is on average smaller in the ACSVCS. (3) The distribution of the LMXBs with the luminosity of the GCs is different between both surveys. These findings are significant. The first finding could be a consequence of a wider spread in the distances of the GCs in the ACSVCS, but the others must have internal reasons in the GCs. Thus, the GC systems are also different on a galaxy cluster scale.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2021

A possible solution to the Milky Way's binary-deficient retrograde stellar population. Evidence that $ω$ Centauri has formed in an extreme starburst

Context. The fraction of field binaries on retrograde orbits about the Milky Way is significantly lower compared to its prograde counterpart. Chemical and dynamical evidence suggests that the retrograde stellar population originates from $ω$ Centauri, which is either the most massive globular cluster (GC) of the Milky Way or the putative core of a former dwarf galaxy. Aims. Star formation conditions required to produce the retrograde binary population are constrained assuming that the retrograde stellar population originates from $ω$ Centauri's progenitor. Methods. We match the observed low binary fraction with dynamical population synthesis models, including a universal initial binary population and dynamical processing in star clusters, making use of the publicly available binary population synthesis tool BiPoS1. Results. It is found that either the GC progenitor of $ω$ Centauri must have formed with a stellar density of $\approx 10^8 \; M_{sun} \; pc^{-3}$ or the $ω$ Centauri dwarf galaxy's progenitor star cluster population must have formed in an extreme starburst with a star formation rate exceeding $1000 \; M_{sun} \; yr^{-1}$ and probably a top-heavy embedded-cluster mass function with suppressed low-mass cluster formation. The separation and mass ratio distribution for retrograde field binaries are predicted for comparison with future observations. Conclusions. A viable solution for the deficiency of binaries on retrograde orbits is presented, and star formation conditions for $ω$ Centauri as well as orbital parameter distributions for the Milky Way's retrograde binary population are predicted. The dwarf galaxy origin for $ω$ Centauri is tentatively preferred within the present context.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2021

BiPoS1 -- a computer programme for the dynamical processing of the initial binary star population

The first version of the Binary Population Synthesizer (BiPoS1) is made publicly available. It allows to efficiently calculate binary distribution functions after the dynamical processing of a realistic population of binary stars during the first few Myr in the hosting embedded star cluster. Instead of time-consuming N-body simulations, BiPoS1 uses a stellar dynamical operator which determines the fraction of surviving binaries depending on the binding energy of the binaries. The stellar dynamical operator depends on the initial star cluster density as well as the time until the residual gas of the star cluster is expelled. BiPoS1 has also a galactic-field mode, in order to synthesize the stellar population of a whole galaxy. At the time of gas expulsion, the dynamical processing of the binary population is assumed to efficiently end due to the subsequent expansion of the star cluster. While BiPoS1 $has been used previously unpublished, here we demonstrate its use in the modelling of the binary populations in the Orion Nebula Cluster, in OB associations and as an input for simulations of globular clusters.

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arXiv2019

Intermediate-Mass Black Holes in binary-rich star clusters

There is both theoretical expectation and some observational clues that intermediate mass black holes reside in nuclei of globular clusters. In order to find an independent indicator for their existence, we investigate in this paper how an IMBH manifests itself through its dynamical interaction with a binary rich globular cluster of moderate extension and mass. By means of direct $N$-body integration we follow the dynamical evolution of models of such a system over a time span of $\approx$ 0.8 Gyr and compare the cases with and without the primordial binaries as well as with and without the IMBH. In accord with previous results, we show that when present the IMBH develops a power-law density cusp of stars around it, regardless of the binary population in the cluster. If, however, binaries are present, their interaction with the IMBH leads to the production of high velocity escapers at a rate of the order of 0.1 Myr$^{-1}$. These stars may contribute to the population of high-velocity stars observed in the Galaxy. Clusters hosting the IMBH together with high number of binaries also form a denser halo of marginally unbound stars than clusters that lack either the IMBH or the rich binary population. Finally, we show that the binary population leads to an increased rate of direct interactions of stars with the IMBH, potentially observable as tidal disruption events.

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arXiv2018

Gas expulsion in highly substructured embedded star clusters

We investigate the response of initially substructured, young, embedded star clusters to instantaneous gas expulsion of their natal gas. We introduce primordial substructure to the stars and the gas by simplistically modelling the star formation process so as to obtain a variety of substructure distributed within our modelled star forming regions. We show that, by measuring the virial ratio of the stars alone (disregarding the gas completely), we can estimate how much mass a star cluster will retain after gas expulsion to within 10% accuracy, no matter how complex the background structure of the gas is, and we present a simple analytical recipe describing this behaviour. We show that the evolution of the star cluster while still embedded in the natal gas, and the behavior of the gas before being expelled, are crucial processes that affect the timescale on which the cluster can evolve into a virialized spherical system. Embedded star clusters that have high levels of substructure are subvirial for longer times, enabling them to survive gas expulsion better than a virialized and spherical system. By using a more realistic treatment for the background gas than our previous studies, we find it very difficult to destroy the young clusters with instantaneous gas expulsion. We conclude that gas removal may not be the main culprit for the dissolution of young star clusters.

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arXiv2017

How fast is mass-segregation happening in hierarchical formed embedded star clusters?

We investigate the evolution of mass segregation in initially sub-structured young embedded star clusters with two different background potentials mimicking the gas. Our clusters are initially in virial or sub-virial global states and have different initial distributions for the most massive stars: randomly placed, initially mass segregated or even inverse segregation. By means of N-body simulation we follow their evolution for 5 Myr. We measure the mass segregation using the minimum spanning tree method Lambda_MSR and an equivalent restricted method. Despite this variety of different initial conditions, we find that our stellar distributions almost always settle very fast into a mass segregated and more spherical configuration, suggesting that once we see a spherical or nearly spherical embedded star cluster, we can be sure it is mass segregated no matter what the real initial conditions were. We, furthermore, report under which circumstances this process can be more rapid or delayed, respectively.

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arXiv2016

Understanding the internal dynamics of elliptical galaxies without non-baryonic dark matter

Assuming virial equilibrium and Newtonian dynamics, low-mass early-type galaxies have larger velocity dispersions than expected from the amount of baryons they contain. The conventional interpretation of this finding is that their dynamics is dominated by non-baryonic matter. However, there is also strong evidence that many low-mass early-type galaxies formed as tidal dwarf galaxies, which would contain almost no dark matter. Using an extensive catalogue of early-type galaxies, we therefore discuss how the internal dynamics of early-type galaxies in general can be understood by replacing the assumption of non-baryonic dark matter with two alternative assumptions. The first assumption is that Milgromian dynamics (i.e., MOND) is valid, which changes the effective gravitational force in the weak-field limit. The second assumption is that binary stars affect the observed line-of-sight velocity dispersions. Some moderate discrepancies between observed and predicted velocity dispersions remain also when these effects are implemented. Nevertheless, the observed velocity dispersions in early-type galaxies can then easily be explained without invoking the presence of non-baryonic dark matter in them, but with already documented variations of the galaxy-wide stellar initial mass function and non-equilibrium dynamics in some of the low-mass early-type galaxies.

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arXiv2016

An extensive catalogue of early-type galaxies in the nearby Universe

We present a catalogue of 1715 early-type galaxies from the literature, spanning the luminosity range from faint dwarf spheroidal galaxies to giant elliptical galaxies. The aim of this catalogue is to be one of the most comprehensive and publicly available collections of data on early-type galaxies. The emphasis in this catalogue lies on dwarf elliptical galaxies, for which some samples with detailed data have been published recently. For almost all of the early-type galaxies included in it, this catalogue contains data on their locations, distances, redshifts, half-light radii, the masses of their stellar populations and apparent magnitudes in various passbands. Data on metallicity and various colours are available for a majority of the galaxies presented here. The data on magnitudes, colours, metallicities and masses of the stellar populations is supplemented with entries that are based on fits to data from simple stellar population models and existing data from observations. Also, some simple transformations have been applied to the data on magnitudes, colours and metallicities in this catalog, in order to increase the homogeneity of this data. Estimates on the Sérsic profiles, internal velocity dispersions, maximum rotational velocities, dynamical masses and ages are listed for several hundreds of the galaxies in this catalogue. Finally, each quantity listed in this catalogue is accompanied with information on its source, so that users of this catalogue can easily exclude data that they do not consider as reliable enough for their purposes.

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arXiv2010

Local-Group tests of dark-matter Concordance Cosmology: Towards a new paradigm for structure formation

(abridged) Predictions of the Concordance Cosmological Model (CCM) of the structures in the environment of large spiral galaxies are compared with observed properties of Local Group galaxies. Five new most probably irreconcilable problems are uncovered. However, the Local Group properties provide hints that may lead to a solution of the above problems The DoS and bulge--satellite correlation suggest that dissipational events forming bulges are related to the processes forming phase-space correlated satellite populations. Such events are well known to occur since in galaxy encounters energy and angular momentum are expelled in the form of tidal tails, which can fragment to form populations of tidal-dwarf galaxies (TDGs) and associated star clusters. If Local Group satellite galaxies are to be interpreted as TDGs then the sub-structure predictions of CCM are internally in conflict. All findings thus suggest that the CCM does not account for the Local Group observations and that therefore existing as well as new viable alternatives have to be further explored. These are discussed and natural solutions for the above problems emerge.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

Mass-loss and expansion of ultra compact dwarf galaxies through gas expulsion and stellar evolution for top-heavy stellar initial mass functions

(abridged) The dynamical V-band mass-to-light ratios of ultra compact dwarf galaxies (UCDs) are higher than predicted by simple stellar population models with the canonical stellar initial mass function (IMF). One way to explain this finding is a top-heavy IMF, so that the unseen mass is provided by additional remnants of high-mass stars. A possible explanation for why the IMF in UCDs could be top-heavy while this is not the case in less massive stellar systems is that encounters between proto-stars and stars become probable in forming massive systems. However, the required number of additional stellar remnants proves to be rather high, which raises the question of how their progenitors would affect the early evolution of a UCD. We have therefore calculated the first 200 Myr of the evolution of the UCDs, using the particle-mesh code Superbox. It is assumed that the stellar populations of UCDs were created in an initial starburst, which implies heavy mass loss during the following approximately 40 Myr due to primordial gas expulsion and supernova explosions. We find at the end of the simulations for various initial conditions and (tabulated) mass-loss histories objects that roughly resemble UCDs. Thus, the existence of UCDs does not contradict the notion that their stellar populations formed rapidly and with a top-heavy IMF. We find tentative evidence that the UCDs may have had densities as high as 10^8 M_sun/pc^3 at birth.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

A top-heavy stellar initial mass function in starbursts as an explanation for the high mass-to-light ratios of ultra compact dwarf galaxies

It has been shown recently that the dynamical V-band mass-to-light ratios of compact stellar systems with masses from 10^6 to 10^8 Solar masses are not consistent with the predictions from simple stellar population (SSP) models. Top-heavy stellar initial mass functions (IMFs) in these so-called ultra compact dwarf galaxies (UCDs) offer an attractive explanation for this finding, the stellar remnants and retained stellar envelopes providing the unseen mass. We therefore construct a model which quantifies by how much the IMFs of UCDs would have to deviate in the intermediate-mass and high-mass range from the canonical IMF in order to account for the enhanced M/L_V ratio of the UCDs. The deduced high-mass IMF in the UCDs depends on the age of the UCDs and the number of faint products of stellar evolution retained by them. Assuming that the IMF in the UCDs is a three-part power-law equal to the canonical IMF in the low-mass range and taking 20% as a plausible choice for the fraction of the remnants of high-mass stars retained by UCDs, the model suggests the exponent of the high-mass IMF to be approximately 1.6 if the UCDs are 13 Gyr old (i.e. almost as old as the Universe) or approximately 1.0 if the UCDs are 7 Gyr old, in contrast to 2.3 for the Salpeter-Massey IMF. If the IMF was as top-heavy as suggested here, the stability of the UCDs might have been threatened by heavy mass loss induced by the radiation and evolution of massive stars. The central densities of UCDs must have been in the range 10^6 to 10^7 Solar masses per cubic parsec when they formed with star formation rates of 10 to 100 Solar masses per year.

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arXiv2008

High M/L ratios of UCDs: a variation of the IMF?

Various studies have established that the dynamical M/L ratios of ultra-compact dwarf galaxies (UCDs) tend to be at the limit or beyond the range explicable by standard stellar populations with canonical IMF. We discuss how IMF variations may account for these high M/L ratios and how observational approaches may in the future allow to discriminate between those possibilities. We also briefly discuss the possibility of dark matter in UCDs.

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arXiv2008

From star clusters to dwarf galaxies: The properties of dynamically hot stellar systems

(Abridged) Objects with radii of 10 to 100 pc and masses in the range from 10^6 to 10^8 M_sun have been discovered during the past decade. These so-called ultra compact dwarf galaxies (UCDs) constitute a transition between classical star clusters and elliptical galaxies in terms of radii, relaxation times and V-band mass-to-light (M/L_V) ratios. Using new data, we find that the mass interval from 10^6 to 10^7 M_sun is of special interest, because within this range typical half-light radii and dynamical mass-to-light ratios begin to increase compared to globular clusters, the highest stellar densities are reached and typical median two-body relaxation times surpass a Hubble time. The M/L_V ratios of the UCDs turn out to be incompatible with the predictions from simple stellar population (SSP) models when using the canonical stellar initial mass function (IMF), although SSPs probably are good approximations to the real stellar populations in UCDs and the SSP models allow to account for metallicity effects on the M/L_V ratio. This provides evidence for the UCDs either having formed with an IMF different from the canonical one or containing dark matter. We emphasise that almost all pressure-supported stellar systems ranging from star clusters to massive elliptical galaxies have M/L_V ratios less than 10 M_sun/L_sun, and that only dSph satellite galaxies have M/L_V ratios greater than 100 M_sun/L_sun and therewith form exceptional systems.

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arXiv2007

UCDs - more massive than allowed?

Dynamical mass estimates of ultra-compact dwarfs galaxies and massive globular clusters in the Fornax and Virgo clusters and around the giant elliptical Cen A have revealed some surprising results: 1) above about 10^6 M_sun the mass-to-light (M/L) ratio increases with the objects' mass; 2) some UCDs/massive GCs show high M/L values (4 to 6) that are not compatible with standard stellar population models; and 3) in the luminosity-velocity dispersion diagram, UCDs deviate from the well defined relation of `normal' GCs, being more in line with the Faber-Jackson relation of early-type galaxies. In this contribution, we present the observational evidences for high mass-to-light ratios of UCDs and discuss possible explanations for them.

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