1999/04/26 by M. G. Abadi, R. G. Bower, Julio F. Navarro +1 · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1046/j.1365-8711.2000.03349.x
9 pages, 5 postscript figures, MNRAS submitted
arxiv created 1999/04/26 · openalex publication_date 2000/06/01 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We describe similarity solutions that characterize the collapse of collisional gas onto scalefree perturbations in an Einstein-de Sitter universe. We consider the effects of radiative cooling and derive self-similar solutions under the assumption that the cooling function is a power law of density and temperature, \Λ(T,\ρ) \∝ \ρ3/2 T. We use these results to test the ability of Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) techniques to follow the collapse and accretion of shocked, rapidly cooling gas in a cosmological context. Our SPH code reproduces the analytical results very well in cases that include or exclude radiative cooling. No substantial deviations from the predicted central mass accretion rates or from the temperature, density, and velocity profiles are observed in well resolved regions inside the shock radius. This test problem lends support to the reliability of SPH techniques to model the complex process of galaxy formation.