We build a stellar-dynamical model of the Milky Way barred bulge and disk, using a newly implemented adaptive particle method. The underlying mass model has been previously shown to match the Galactic near-infrared surface brightness as well as gas-kinematic observations. Here we show that the new stellar-dynamical model also matches the observed stellar kinematics in several bulge fields, and ...

We investigate the structure of self-gravitating polytropic stellar systems. We present a method which allows to obtain approximate analytical solutions, ψn+ǫ(x), of the nonlinear Poisson equation with the polytropic index n+ ǫ, given the solution ψn(x) with the polytropic index n, for any positive or negative ǫ such that |ǫ| ≪ 1. Application of this method to the spherically symmetric stellar ...

Globular star clusters are extremely important astrophysical objects since (1) they are prime laboratories for testing stellar evolution; (2) they are “fossils” from the epoch of galaxy formation, and thus important cosmological tools; (3) they serve as test particles for studying the dynamics of the Galaxy; (4) information on individual stars can provide constrains for stellar dynamic models; ...

We analyzed the shapes of Galactic open clusters by the star counting technique with the 2MASS star catalog database. Morphological parameters such as the ellipticity and size have been derived via stellar density distribution, weighed by clustering probability. We find that most star clusters are elongated, even for the youngest star clusters of a few million years old, which are located near ...

The best constraints on dark halo properties of elliptical galaxies come from large radii; however, observations at these radii are difficult due to the faint stellar light and/or sparse kinematic tracers (i.e., globular clusters, planetary nebulae). We present line-of-sight stellar velocity distributions of elliptical galaxy NGC 821 obtained to approximately 100 (over 2 effective radii) with l...

We construct exact solutions to Einstein equations which represent relativistic disks imbedded in an expanding FRW Universe. It is shown that the expansion influences the kinematical characteristics of the disks such as rotational curves, surface mass density, etc. The effects of the expansion are exemplified with non-static generalizations of Kuzmin-Curzon and Schwarzschild disks. Subject head...

I decompose the unstable growing modes of stellar disks to their Fourier components and present the physical mechanism of instabilities in the context of resonances. When the equilibrium distribution function is a non-uniform function of the orbital angular momentum, the capture of stars into the corotation resonance imbalances the disk angular momentum and triggers growing bar and spiral modes...

Although at least one quarter of early-type barred galaxies host secondary stellar bars embedded in their large-scale primary counterparts, the dynamics of such double barred galaxies are still not well understood. Recently we reported success at simulating such systems in a repeatable way in collisionless systems. In order to further our understanding of double-barred galaxies, here we charact...

Two of the world’s leading astrophysicists, James Binney and Scott Tremaine, here present a comprehensive review of the theory of galactic dynamics at a level suitable for both graduate students and researchers. Their work in this volume describes our present understanding of the structure and dynamics of stellar systems such as galaxies and star clusters. Nicknamed “the Bible of galactic dynam...