2022/05/22 by Lovisetto, M., Braidotti, M. C., Prizia, R. +6
#Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA) #Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO) #FOS: Physical sciences #Optics (physics.optics)
paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2205.10948
Large scale structures in the Universe, ranging from globular clusters to entire galaxies, are the manifestation of relaxation to out-of-equilibrium states that are not described by standard statistical mechanics at equilibrium. Instead, they are formed through a process of a very different nature, i.e. violent relaxation. However, astrophysical time-scales are so large that it is not possible to directly observe these relaxation dynamics and therefore verify the details of the violent relaxation process. We develop a table-top experiment and model that allows us to directly observe effects such as mixing of phase space, and violent relaxation, leading to the formation of a table-top analogue of a galaxy. The experiment allows us to control a range of parameters, including the nonlocal (gravitational) interaction strength and quantum effects, thus providing an effective test-bed for gravitational models that cannot otherwise be directly studied in experimental settings.