The kinetic motion of the stars of a galaxy is considered within the framework of a relativistic scalar theory of gravitation. This model, even though unphysical, may represent a good laboratory where to study in a rigorous, mathematical way those problems, like the influence of the gravitational radiation on the dynamics, which are still beyond our present understanding of the physical model represented by the Einstein--Vlasov system. The present paper is devoted to derive the equations of the model and to prove the existence of spherically symmetric equilibria with finite radius.
We study the problem of static, spherically symmetric, self-gravitating elastic matter distributions in Newtonian gravity. To this purpose we first introduce a new definition of homogeneous, spherically symmetric (hyper)elastic body in Euler coordinates, i.e., in terms of matter fields defined on the current physical state of the body. We show that our definition is equivalent to the classical one existing in the literature and which is given in Lagrangian coordinates, i.e., in terms of the deformation of the body from a given reference state. After a number of well-known examples of constitut…
We develop a method that works in general product Riemannian manifold to decompose the three-dimensional steady full compressible Euler system, which is of elliptic-hyperbolic composite-mixed type for subsonic flows. The method is applied to show stability of spherically symmetric subsonic flows and transonic shocks in space $\mathbb{R}^3$ under multidimensional perturbations of boundary conditions.
Numerical evidence is given that spherically symmetric perturbations of stable spherically symmetric steady states of the gravitational Vlasov-Poisson system lead to solutions which oscillate in time. The oscillations can be periodic in time or damped. Along one-parameter families of polytropic steady states we establish an Eddington-Ritter type relation which relates the period of the oscillation to the central density of the steady state. The numerically obtained periods are used to estimate possible periods for typical elliptical galaxies.
We consider spherically symmetric steady states of the Vlasov-Poisson system, which describe equilibrium configurations of galaxies or globular clusters. If the microscopic equation of state, i.e., the dependence of the steady state on the particle energy (and angular momentum) is fixed, a one-parameter family of such states is obtained. In the polytropic case the mass of the state along such a one-parameter family is a monotone function of its radius. We prove that for the King, Woolley-Dickens, and related models this mass-radius relation takes the form of a spiral.
We consider two classes of steady states of the three-dimensional, gravitational Vlasov-Poisson system: the spherically symmetric Antonov-stable steady states (including the polytropes and the King model) and their plane symmetric analogues. We completely describe the essential spectrum of the self-adjoint operator governing the linearized dynamics in the neighborhood of these steady states. We also show that for the steady states under consideration, there exists a gap in the spectrum. We then use a version of the Birman-Schwinger principle first used by Mathur to derive a general criterion f…
We provide a systematic study for the accretion of a collisionless, relativistic kinetic gas into a nonrotating black hole. To this end, we first solve the relativistic Liouville equation on a Schwarzschild background spacetime. The most general solution for the distribution function is given in terms of appropriate symplectic coordinates on the cotangent bundle, and the associated observables, including the particle current density and stress energy-momentum tensor, are determined. Next, we explore the case where the flow is steady-state and spherically symmetric. Assuming that in the asympto…
For the three-dimensional steady non-isentropic compressible Euler system with friction, we show existence of a class of symmetric subsonic, supersonic and transonic-shock solutions in a straight duct with constant square-section. Such flows are called Fanno flow in engineering. We formulate a boundary value problem for subsonic flows, and study their stability under multidimensional small perturbations of boundary conditions. Since the subsonic Euler system is of elliptic-hyperbolic composite-mixed type, this is achieved by using the framework established in [L. Liu; G. Xu; H. Yuan: Stability…
We consider steady state solutions of the massive, asymptotically flat, spherically symmetric Einstein-Vlasov system, i.e., relativistic models of galaxies or globular clusters, and steady state solutions of the Einstein-Euler system, i.e., relativistic models of stars. Such steady states are embedded into one-parameter families parameterized by their central redshift $κ>0$. We prove their linear instability when $κ$ is sufficiently large, i.e., when they are strongly relativistic, and that the instability is driven by a growing mode. Our work confirms the scenario of dynamic instability propo…
The Kurth solution is a particular non-isotropic steady state solution to the gravitational Vlasov-Poisson system. It has the property that by means of a suitable time-dependent transformation it can be turned into a family of time-dependent solutions. Therefore, for a general steady state $Q(x, v)=\tilde{Q}(e_Q, β)$, depending upon the particle energy $e_Q$ and $β=\ell^2=|x\wedge v|^2$, the question arises if solutions $f$ could be generated that are of the form \[ f(t)=\tilde{Q}\Big(e_Q(R(t), P(t), B(t)), B(t)\Big) \] for suitable functions $R$, $P$ and $B$, all depending on $(t, r, p_r, β)$…
