Computer simulations of rotating systems of few particles bound by gravitation

Yngve Hopstad () and Jan Myrheim
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Yngve Hopstad: Department of Physics, NTNU, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, N-7491 Trondheim, Norway
Jan Myrheim: Department of Physics, NTNU, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, N-7491 Trondheim, Norway

International Journal of Modern Physics C (IJMPC), 2016, vol. 27, issue 12, 1-36

Abstract: The shapes of rotating drops of liquid bound by gravitation is a classical subject of study. Inspired by this classical theory, we have simulated numerically a related problem, the rotating rigid configurations of a finite number of point particles. Two particles at a distance r have a long range attractive potential −1∕r and a short range repulsive potential 1∕r2 preventing collapse. We take the angular momentum to be conserved, but not the energy.This system has a variable density, unlike the classical liquid drops. When the number of particles is small, it is more rigid than a liquid drop, implying that many different stable equilibrium configurations may exist with the same angular momentum but different energies. When the number of particles becomes large, our system should resemble a self-gravitating polytropic gas.We present here the results of a preliminary study with only 3, 4, and 5 particles. The methods used could be applied to the study of rotating molecules.

Keywords: Rotation; simulation; bifurcation; polytrope (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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DOI: 10.1142/S0129183116501424

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