dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaDynamical Friction in Stellar Systems: an introduction
| Authors | Hector Aceves, Maria Colosimo |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | physics/0603066 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0603066 |
Abstract
An introductory exposition of Chandrasekhar's gravitational dynamical friction, appropriate for an undergraduate class in mec hanics, is presented. This friction results when a massive particle moving through a ``sea'' of much lighter star particles experiences a retarding force du to an exchange of energy and momentum. General features of dynamical friction are presented, both in an elementary and in a more elaborate way using hyperbolic two-body interactions. The orbital decay of a massive particle in an homogeneous gravitational system is solved analytically, that leads to an underdamped harmonic oscillator type of motion. A numerical integration of the equation of motion in a more realistic c ase is done. These results are compared to those of an N-body computer simulation. Several problems and projects are suggested to students for further st udy.
{
"annotation_id": "56dcf971-51d4-4bdd-94c2-e998ea571f19",
"date_created": "2026-03-02T18:01:07.830000Z",
"date_modified": "2026-03-02T18:01:07.830000Z",
"file_hash": "301c16f11aa45cd1bb1d41df3364e0b8e110a89a3de25e58100154559809cddf",
"private": false,
"record": {
"abstract": "An introductory exposition of Chandrasekhar\u0027s gravitational dynamical\nfriction, appropriate for an undergraduate class in mec hanics, is presented.\nThis friction results when a massive particle moving through a ``sea\u0027\u0027 of much\nlighter star particles experiences a retarding force du to an exchange of\nenergy and momentum. General features of dynamical friction are presented, both\nin an elementary and in a more elaborate way using hyperbolic two-body\ninteractions. The orbital decay of a massive particle in an homogeneous\ngravitational system is solved analytically, that leads to an underdamped\nharmonic oscillator type of motion. A numerical integration of the equation of\nmotion in a more realistic c ase is done. These results are compared to those\nof an N-body computer simulation. Several problems and projects are suggested\nto students for further st udy.",
"arxiv_id": "physics/0603066",
"authors": [
"Hector Aceves",
"Maria Colosimo"
],
"categories": [
"physics.class-ph",
"physics.comp-ph"
],
"title": "Dynamical Friction in Stellar Systems: an introduction",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0603066"
},
"schema_id": "dorsal/arxiv",
"source": {
"execution_id": "fa3f4b85-47e1-41f1-acc1-08575c24ad30",
"id": "arXiv Dataset IDs",
"type": "Model",
"variant": "snapshot-2026-03-01",
"version": "0.1.0"
},
"user_id": 1000002
}