2008/04/24 by Stephen L. W. McMillan
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/0264-9381/25/11/114007
published as Class.Quant.Grav.25:114007,2008 · 21 pages, invited talk presented at the 18th International Conference on General Relativity and Gravitation (GRG18), Sydney, July 2007. To appear in Classical and Quantum Gravity
arxiv created 2008/04/24 · openalex publication_date 2008/05/15 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
Internal dynamical evolution can drive stellar systems into states of high central density. For many star clusters and galactic nuclei, the time scale on which this occurs is significantly less than the age of the universe. As a result, such systems are expected to be sites of frequent interactions among stars, binary systems and stellar remnants, making them efficient factories for the production of compact binaries, intermediate-mass black holes and other interesting and eminently observable astrophysical exotica. We describe some elements of the competition among stellar dynamics, stellar evolution and other mechanisms to control the dynamics of stellar systems, and discuss briefly the techniques by which these systems are modeled and studied. Particular emphasis is placed on pathways leading to massive black holes in present-day globular clusters and other potentially detectable sources of gravitational radiation.