1. A family of models for spherical stellar systems
- Author
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Tremaine, Scott, Richstone, Douglas O, Byun, Yong-Ik, Dressler, Alan, Faber, S. M, Grillmair, Carl, Kormendy, John, and Lauer, Tod R
- Subjects
Astrophysics - Abstract
We describe a one-parameter family of models of stable sperical stellar systems in which the phase-space distribution function depends only on energy. The models have similar density profiles in their outer parts (rho propotional to r(exp -4)) and central power-law density cusps, rho proportional to r(exp 3-eta), 0 less than eta less than or = 3. The family contains the Jaffe (1983) and Hernquist (1990) models as special cases. We evaluate the surface brightness profile, the line-of-sight velocity dispersion profile, and the distribution function, and discuss analogs of King's core-fitting formula for determining mass-to-light ratio. We also generalize the models to a two-parameter family, in which the galaxy contains a central black hole; the second parameter is the mass of the black hole. Our models can be used to estimate the detectability of central black holes and the velocity-dispersion profiles of galaxies that contain central cusps, with or without a central black hole.
- Published
- 1994
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