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Phys. Rev. E 71, 016102 (2005) [9 pages]

Universal non-Gaussian velocity distribution in violent gravitational processes

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Osamu Iguchi1,*, Yasuhide Sota1,2,†, Takayuki Tatekawa3,‡, Akika Nakamichi4,§, and Masahiro Morikawa1,**
1Department of Physics, Ochanomizu University, 2-1-1 Ohtuka, Bunkyo, Tokyo 112-8610, Japan
2Advanced Research Institute for Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Ohkubo, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169-8555, Japan
3Department of Physics, Waseda University, 3-4-1 Okubo, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169-8555, Japan
4Gunma Astronomical Observatory, 6860-86, Nakayama, Takayama, Agatsuma, Gunma 377-0702, Japan

Received 26 June 2004; published 3 January 2005

We study the velocity distribution in spherical collapses and cluster-pair collisions by use of N-body simulations. Reflecting the violent gravitational processes, the velocity distribution of the resultant quasistationary state generally becomes non-Gaussian. Through the strong mixing of the violent process, there appears a universal non-Gaussian velocity distribution, which is a democratic (equal-weighted) superposition of many Gaussian distributions (DT distribution). This is deeply related with the local virial equilibrium and the linear mass-temperature relation which characterize the system. We show the robustness of this distribution function against various initial conditions which leads to the violent gravitational process. The DT distribution has a positive correlation with the energy fluctuation of the system. On the other hand, the coherent motion such as the radial motion in the spherical collapse and the rotation with the angular momentum suppress the appearance of the DT distribution.

© 2005 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevE.71.016102
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevE.71.016102
PACS:
05.90.+m, 05.45.−a, 98.10.+z

*Electronic address: osamu@phys.ocha.ac.jp

Electronic address: sota@cosmos.phys.ocha.ac.jp

Electronic address: tatekawa@gravity.phys.waseda.ac.jp

§Electronic address: akika@astron.pref.gunma.jp

**Electronic address: hiro@phys.ocha.ac.jp