The MOND external field effect on the dynamics of the globular clusters: General considerations and application to NGC 2419

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the external field effect in the context of the MOdified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) on the surface brightness and velocity dispersion profiles of globular clusters (GCs). Using N-MODY, which is an N-body simulation code with a MOND potential solver, we show that the general effect of the external field for diffuse clusters, which obey MOND in most of their parts, is that it pushes the dynamics toward the Newtonian regime. On the other hand, for more compact clusters, which are essentially Newtonian in their inner parts, the external field is effective mainly in the outer parts of compact clusters. As a case study, we then choose the remote Galactic GC NGC 2419. By varying the cluster mass, half-light radius, and mass-to-light ratio, we aim to find a model that will reproduce the observational data most effectively, using N-MODY. We find that even if we take the Galactic external field into account, a Newtonian Plummer sphere represents the observational data better than MOND to an order of magnitude in terms of the total χ2 of surface brightness and velocity dispersion. © 2014. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved..