Séminaire/Seminar Galaxies |
| « Rethinking the dynamical paradigm of low-mass stellar systems » |
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Anna Lisa Varri |
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The blooming era of “precision astrometry” for Galactic studies opened by Gaia DR2 and the revolutionary beginnings of “gravitational wave astronomy” enabled by aLIGO truly bring the rich internal dynamics of collisional stellar
systems to the centre stage. But the current interpretative picture of the role of “small scales” in the assembly of cosmic structures cannot cope with such new-generation data and fresh theoretical ambitions, therefore a modern view of low-mass stellar systems within the rapidly evolving landscape of near-field cosmology is urgently needed. In this context, I will present the highlights of a more realistic dynamical paradigm for globular clusters, with emphasis on the role of angular momentum, velocity anisotropy, external tidal field, and their non-trivial interplay. Such a fundamental understanding of the emerging phase space complexity of globulars and other low-mass stellar systems will allow me to address three puzzles at the core of the progressively blurrier “star cluster-galaxy divide”: 1) How did the first stellar aggregates form at high redshift? 2) Is there a “missing link” between stellar and super-massive black holes? 3) What is the limit of the presence of dark matter on small astrophysical scales? |
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jeudi 6 septembre 2018 - 11:30 Salle 281 Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris |
| Page web du séminaire / Seminar's webpage |