Statistical Mechanics of Two‐dimensional Vortices and Collisionless Stellar Systems

  • Chavanis P
  • Sommeria J
  • Robert R
224Citations
Citations of this article
17Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

Abstract

In this article, we stress the analogy between two-dimensional vortices and collisionless stellar systems. This analogy is based on the similar morphology of the Euler and Vlasov equations. These equations develop Ðner and Ðner Ðlaments, and a statistical description is appropriate to smooth out the Ñuctua-tions and describe the macroscopic evolution of the system. We show here that the two descriptions are similar and apply the methods obtained in two-dimensional turbulence to the case of stellar systems. In particular, we propose a new evolution equation for the coarse grained distribution function based on a f 6 general maximum entropy production principle. This equation (of a generalized Fokker-Planck type) takes into account the "" incompleteness ÏÏ and the "" statistical degeneracy ÏÏ of the violent relaxation and should be able to model the evolution of collisionless stellar systems.

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Chavanis, P. H., Sommeria, J., & Robert, R. (1996). Statistical Mechanics of Two‐dimensional Vortices and Collisionless Stellar Systems. The Astrophysical Journal, 471(1), 385–399. https://doi.org/10.1086/177977

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free