On September 14, 2015 at 09:50:45 UTC the two detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory simultaneously observed a transient gravitational-wave signal. The signal sweeps upwards in frequency from 35 to 250 Hz with a peak gravitational-wave strain of 1.0×10(-21). It matches the waveform predicted by general relativity for the inspiral and merger of a pair of black holes and the ringdown of the resulting single black hole. The signal was observed with a matched-filter signal-to-noise ratio of 24 and a false alarm rate estimated to be less than 1 event per 203,000 years, equivalent to a significance greater than 5.1σ. The source lies at a luminosity distance of 410(-180)(+160)  Mpc corresponding to a redshift z=0.09(-0.04)(+0.03). In the source frame, the initial black hole masses are 36(-4)(+5)M⊙ and 29(-4)(+4)M⊙, and the final black hole mass is 62(-4)(+4)M⊙, with 3.0(-0.5)(+0.5)M⊙c(2) radiated in gravitational waves. All uncertainties define 90% credible intervals. These observations demonstrate the existence of binary stellar-mass black hole systems. This is the first direct detection of gravitational waves and the first observation of a binary black hole merger.

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The Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger

▪ Abstract Stellar clusters are born embedded within giant molecular clouds (GMCs) and during their formation and early evolution are often only visible at infrared wavelengths, being heavily obscured by dust. Over the past 15 years advances in infrared detection capabilities have enabled the first systematic studies of embedded clusters in galactic molecular clouds. In this article we review the current state of empirical knowledge concerning these extremely young protocluster systems. From a survey of the literature we compile the first extensive catalog of galactic embedded clusters. We use the catalog to construct the mass function and estimate the birthrate for embedded clusters within ∼2 kpc of the sun. We find that the embedded cluster birthrate exceeds that of visible open clusters by an order of magnitude or more indicating a high infant mortality rate for protocluster systems. Less than 4–7% of embedded clusters survive emergence from molecular clouds to become bound clusters of Pleiades age. Th...

http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/%7Ereipurth/reviews/ladalada.pdf

Embedded Clusters in Molecular Clouds

Smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) is a meshfree particle method based on Lagrangian formulation, and has been widely applied to different areas in engineering and science. This paper presents an overview on the SPH method and its recent developments, including (1) the need for meshfree particle methods, and advantages of SPH, (2) approximation schemes of the conventional SPH method and numerical techniques for deriving SPH formulations for partial differential equations such as the Navier-Stokes (N-S) equations, (3) the role of the smoothing kernel functions and a general approach to construct smoothing kernel functions, (4) kernel and particle consistency for the SPH method, and approaches for restoring particle consistency, (5) several important numerical aspects, and (6) some recent applications of SPH. The paper ends with some concluding remarks.

Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH): an Overview and Recent Developments

Our Galaxy, the Milky Way, is a benchmark for understanding disk galaxies. It is the only galaxy whose formation history can be studied using the full distribution of stars from faint dwarfs to supergiants. The oldest components provide us with unique insight into how galaxies form and evolve over billions of years. The Galaxy is a luminous (L⋆) barred spiral with a central box/peanut bulge, a dominant disk, and a diffuse stellar halo. Based on global properties, it falls in the sparsely populated “green valley” region of the galaxy color-magnitude diagram. Here we review the key integrated, structural and kinematic parameters of the Galaxy, and point to uncertainties as well as directions for future progress. Galactic studies will continue to play a fundamental role far into the future because there are measurements that can only be made in the near field and much of contemporary astrophysics depends on such observations.

The Galaxy in Context: Structural, Kinematic, and Integrated Properties

Young massive clusters are dense aggregates of young stars that form the fundamental building blocks of galaxies. Several examples exist in the Milky Way Galaxy and the Local Group, but they are particularly abundant in starburst and interacting galaxies. The few young massive clusters that are close enough to resolve are of prime interest for studying the stellar mass function and the ecological interplay between stellar evolution and stellar dynamics. The distant unresolved clusters may be effectively used to study the star-cluster mass function, and they provide excellent constraints on the formation mechanisms of young cluster populations. Young massive clusters are expected to be the nurseries for many unusual objects, including a wide range of exotic stars and binaries. So far only a few such objects have been found in young massive clusters, although their older cousins, the globular clusters, are unusually rich in stellar exotica. In this review we focus on star clusters younger than $\sim100$ Myr, more than a few current crossing times old, and more massive than $\sim10^4$ \Msun, irrespective of cluster size or environment. We describe the global properties of the currently known young massive star clusters in the Local Group and beyond, and discuss the state of the art in observations and dynamical modeling of these systems. In order to make this review readable by observers, theorists, and computational astrophysicists, we also review the cross-disciplinary terminology.

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Young Massive Star Clusters

In one widely discussed model for the formation of nuclear star clusters (NSCs), massive globular clusters spiral into the center of a galaxy and merge to form the nucleus. It is now known that at least some NSCs coexist with supermassive black holes (SMBHs); this is the case, for instance, in the Milky Way. In this paper, we investigate how the presence of an SMBH at the center of the Milky Way impacts the merger hypothesis for the formation of its NSC. Starting from a model consisting of a low-density nuclear stellar disk and the SMBH, we use direct N-body simulations to follow the successive inspiral and merger of globular clusters. The clusters are started on circular orbits of radius 20 pc, and their initial masses and radii are set up in such a way as to be consistent with the galactic tidal field at that radius. These clusters, decayed orbitally in the central region due to their large mass, were followed in their inspiral events; as a result, the total accumulated mass by ≈10 clusters is about 1.5 × 107 M ☉. Each cluster is disrupted by the SMBH at a distance of roughly 1 pc. The density profile that results after the final inspiral event is characterized by a core of roughly this radius and an envelope with density that falls off ρ ~ r –2. These properties are similar to those of the Milky Way NSC, with the exception of the core size, which in the Milky Way is somewhat smaller. But by continuing the evolution of the model after the final inspiral event, we find that the core shrinks substantially via gravitational encounters in a time (when scaled to the Milky Way) of 10 Gyr as the stellar distribution evolves toward a Bahcall-Wolf cusp. We also show that the luminosity function of the Milky Way NSC is consistent with the hypothesis that 1/2 of the mass comes from old (~10 Gyr) stars, brought in by globular clusters, with the other half due to continuous star formation. We conclude that a model in which a large fraction of the mass of the Milky Way NSC is due to infalling globular clusters is consistent with existing observational constraints.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0004-637X/750/2/111/pdf

Dissipationless Formation and Evolution of the Milky Way Nuclear Star Cluster

Among the possible phenomena inducing evolution of the globular cluster system in an elliptical galaxy, dynamical friction due to field stars and tidal disruption caused by a central nucleus is of crucial importance. The aim of this paper is the study of the evolution of the globular cluster system in a triaxial galaxy in the presence of these phenomena. In particular, the possibility is examined that some galactic nuclei have been formed by frictionally decayed globular clusters moving in a triaxial potential

The Evolution of the Globular Cluster System in a Triaxial Galaxy: Can a Galactic Nucleus Form by Globular Cluster Capture?

Dynamical friction due to field stars and tidal disruption caused by a central nucleus are crucial in determining the evolution of the globular cluster system in an elliptical galaxy. In this paper I examine the possibility that some of galactic nuclei have been formed by frictionally decayied globular clusters moving in a triaxial potential. The initial rapid growth of the nucleus, due mainly to massive clusters on box orbits falling in a short time scale into the galactic centre, is found to be later slowed by tidal disruption induced by the nucleus itself on less massive clusters in the way described by Ostriker, Binney & Saha. 
The efficiency of dynamical friction is such to carry to the centre of the galaxy enough globular cluster mass available to form a compact nucleus, but the actual modes of its collisionless formation remains to be investigated. 
The mass of the resulting nucleus is determined by the mutual feedback of the two mentioned processes, together with the knowlegde of the initial spatial, velocity and mass distributions of the globular cluster family. Moreover, we discuss the possibility that the globular cluster fall to the galactic centre has been cause of primordial violent galactic activity. 
An application of the model to M31 is presented.

We present results of fully self-consistent N-body simulations of the motion of four globular clusters moving in the inner region of their parent galaxy. With regard to previous simplified simulations, we confirm merging and formation of an almost steady nuclear cluster, in a slightly shorter time. The projected surface density profile shows strong similarity to that of resolved galactic nuclei. This similarity reflects also in the velocity dispersion profile which exhibits a central colder component as observed in many nucleated galaxies.

Self‐consistent simulations of nuclear cluster formation through globular cluster orbital decay and merging

In this series of papers, we present the results of detailed N-body simulations of the interaction of a sample of four massive globular clusters in the inner region of a triaxial galaxy for two different sets of initial conditions that correspond to different initial density concentrations. A full merging of the clusters takes place, leading to a slowly evolving cluster that is quite similar to observed nuclear clusters. Actually, both the density and the velocity dispersion profiles match qualitatively, and also quantitatively after scaling to a larger number of merger globulars, with the observed features of many nucleated galaxies. In the case of dense initial clusters, the merger remnant shows a density profile more concentrated than that of the progenitors, with a central density higher than the sum of the progenitors' central densities and an effective radius compatible with observed nuclear values. These findings support the idea that a massive nuclear cluster may have formed in the early phases of the mother galaxy's evolution and led to the formation of a nucleus, which in many galaxies has a luminosity profile similar to that of an extended King model. A correlation with galactic nuclear activity is suggested.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1086/588017/pdf

Roberto Capuzzo-Dolcetta

Papers

Dissipationless Formation and Evolution of the Milky Way Nuclear Star Cluster

The Evolution of the Globular Cluster System in a Triaxial Galaxy: Can a Galactic Nucleus Form by Globular Cluster Capture?

The Evolution of the Globular Cluster System in a Triaxial Galaxy: Can a Galactic Nucleus Form by Globular Cluster Capture?

Self‐consistent simulations of nuclear cluster formation through globular cluster orbital decay and merging

Merging of Globular Clusters in Inner Galactic Regions. II. Nuclear Star Cluster Formation