Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union
- Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union (2007), 3 : pp 211-214
- Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2008
- DOI: 10.1017/S1743921308017675 (About DOI)
- Published online: 04 July 2008
Contributed Papers
Dynamics of galactic nuclei: mass segregation and collisions
Marc Freitaga1, James E. Dalea2, Ross P. Churcha2a3 and Melvyn B. Daviesa2
a1 Institute of Astronomy, Madingley road, Cambridge, CB3 0HA, UK email: freitag@ast.cam.ac.uk
a2 Lund Observatory, Box 43, SE 22100, Lund, Sweden
a3 Centre for Stellar and Planetary Astrophysics, Monash University, Vic. 3800, Australia
Abstract
Massive black holes (MBHs) with a mass below ~ 107 M
are likely to reside at the centre of dense stellar nuclei shaped by 2-body relaxation, close interactions with the MBH and direct collisions. In this contribution, we stress the role of mass segregation of stellar-mass black holes into the innermost tenths of a parsec and point to the importance of hydrodynamical collisions between stars. At the Galactic centre, collisions must affect giant stars and some of the S-stars.
