A Systematic Analysis of Star Cluster Disruption by Tidal Shocks. II. Predicting Star Cluster Dissolution Rates from a Time-series Analysis of Their Tidal Histories
Most of the dynamical mass loss from star clusters is thought to be caused by the time variability of the tidal field (“tidal shocks”). Systematic studies of tidal shocks have been hampered by the fact that each tidal history is unique, implying both a reproducibility and a generalization problem. H...
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2024-01-01
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad7a7b |
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| author | Jeremy J. Webb Marta Reina-Campos J. M. Diederik Kruijssen |
| author_facet | Jeremy J. Webb Marta Reina-Campos J. M. Diederik Kruijssen |
| author_sort | Jeremy J. Webb |
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| description | Most of the dynamical mass loss from star clusters is thought to be caused by the time variability of the tidal field (“tidal shocks”). Systematic studies of tidal shocks have been hampered by the fact that each tidal history is unique, implying both a reproducibility and a generalization problem. Here we address these issues by investigating how star cluster evolution depends on the statistical properties of its tidal history. We run a large suite of direct N -body simulations of clusters with tidal histories generated from power spectra of a given slope and with different normalizations, which determine the timescales and amplitudes of the shocks, respectively. At fixed normalization (i.e., the same median tidal field strength), the dissolution timescale is nearly independent of the power spectrum slope. However, the dispersion in dissolution timescales, obtained by repeating simulations for different realizations of statistically identical tidal histories, increases with the power spectrum slope. This result means that clusters experiencing high-frequency shocks have more similar mass-loss histories than clusters experiencing low-frequency shocks. The density–mass relationship of the simulated clusters follows a power law with slope between 1.08 and 1.45, except for the lowest normalizations (for which clusters effectively evolve in a static tidal field). Our findings suggest that star cluster evolution can be described statistically from a time-series analysis of its tidal history, which is an important simplification for describing the evolution of the star cluster population during galaxy formation and evolution. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ab74ba7b1d434f0d9d8381556ea3a1ed |
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| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
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| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-ab74ba7b1d434f0d9d8381556ea3a1ed2025-08-20T02:12:34ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572024-01-01975224210.3847/1538-4357/ad7a7bA Systematic Analysis of Star Cluster Disruption by Tidal Shocks. II. Predicting Star Cluster Dissolution Rates from a Time-series Analysis of Their Tidal HistoriesJeremy J. Webb0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3613-0854Marta Reina-Campos1J. M. Diederik Kruijssen2Department of Science, Technology and Society, Division of Natural Science, York University , 4700 Keele St, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada; Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto , 50 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3H4, CanadaCanadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics (CITA), University of Toronto , 60 St George St, Toronto, ON M5S 3H8, Canada; Department of Physics & Astronomy, McMaster University , 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON L8S 4M1, CanadaChair of Remote Sensing Technology, School of Engineering and Design, Department of Aerospace and Geodesy, Technical University of Munich , Arcisstr. 21, 80333 Munich, Germany; Cosmic Origins Of Life (COOL) Research DAO , Germany 7Most of the dynamical mass loss from star clusters is thought to be caused by the time variability of the tidal field (“tidal shocks”). Systematic studies of tidal shocks have been hampered by the fact that each tidal history is unique, implying both a reproducibility and a generalization problem. Here we address these issues by investigating how star cluster evolution depends on the statistical properties of its tidal history. We run a large suite of direct N -body simulations of clusters with tidal histories generated from power spectra of a given slope and with different normalizations, which determine the timescales and amplitudes of the shocks, respectively. At fixed normalization (i.e., the same median tidal field strength), the dissolution timescale is nearly independent of the power spectrum slope. However, the dispersion in dissolution timescales, obtained by repeating simulations for different realizations of statistically identical tidal histories, increases with the power spectrum slope. This result means that clusters experiencing high-frequency shocks have more similar mass-loss histories than clusters experiencing low-frequency shocks. The density–mass relationship of the simulated clusters follows a power law with slope between 1.08 and 1.45, except for the lowest normalizations (for which clusters effectively evolve in a static tidal field). Our findings suggest that star cluster evolution can be described statistically from a time-series analysis of its tidal history, which is an important simplification for describing the evolution of the star cluster population during galaxy formation and evolution.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad7a7bStar clustersGalaxy dynamicsGlobular star clustersOpen star clusters |
| spellingShingle | Jeremy J. Webb Marta Reina-Campos J. M. Diederik Kruijssen A Systematic Analysis of Star Cluster Disruption by Tidal Shocks. II. Predicting Star Cluster Dissolution Rates from a Time-series Analysis of Their Tidal Histories The Astrophysical Journal Star clusters Galaxy dynamics Globular star clusters Open star clusters |
| title | A Systematic Analysis of Star Cluster Disruption by Tidal Shocks. II. Predicting Star Cluster Dissolution Rates from a Time-series Analysis of Their Tidal Histories |
| title_full | A Systematic Analysis of Star Cluster Disruption by Tidal Shocks. II. Predicting Star Cluster Dissolution Rates from a Time-series Analysis of Their Tidal Histories |
| title_fullStr | A Systematic Analysis of Star Cluster Disruption by Tidal Shocks. II. Predicting Star Cluster Dissolution Rates from a Time-series Analysis of Their Tidal Histories |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Systematic Analysis of Star Cluster Disruption by Tidal Shocks. II. Predicting Star Cluster Dissolution Rates from a Time-series Analysis of Their Tidal Histories |
| title_short | A Systematic Analysis of Star Cluster Disruption by Tidal Shocks. II. Predicting Star Cluster Dissolution Rates from a Time-series Analysis of Their Tidal Histories |
| title_sort | systematic analysis of star cluster disruption by tidal shocks ii predicting star cluster dissolution rates from a time series analysis of their tidal histories |
| topic | Star clusters Galaxy dynamics Globular star clusters Open star clusters |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad7a7b |
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