The Fate of Dwarf Galaxies in Clusters and the Origin of Intracluster Stars

[摘要] The main goal of this paper is to compare the relative importance of destruction by tides vs. destruction by mergers, in order to assess if tidal destruction of galaxies in clusters is a viable scenario for explaining the origin of intracluster stars. We have designed a simple algorithm for simulating the evolution of isolated clusters. The distribution of galaxies in the cluster is evolved using a direct gravitational 𝑁-body algorithm combined with a subgrid treatment of physical processes such as mergers, tidal disruption, and galaxy harassment. Using this algorithm, we have performed a total of 148 simulations. Our main results are:destruction of dwarf galaxies by mergers dominates over destruction by tides, and

[学科分类] 天文学(综合)

[关键词] Cosmology—galaxies: clusters;dwarfs;interactions;methods: numerical.