Astronomy Internship 2022
The stability of flattened rotating spheroids
Astrophysical context
Rotation is ubiquitous in the universe. Its impact on the short term stability and long term evolution of galaxies is nonetheless often theoretically set aside, as it involves further degrees of freedom. At a time when ab initio cosmological simulations of large volume of our universe reach sufficient resolution to characterise the intricate resonant dynamics of galaxies, linear response should prove enlightening to best make sense of how populations of flattened rotating systems evolve over a Hubble time.
Upshot
This internship will be focused on addressing the following questions: By which processes can a galaxy reshuffle its orbital structure and access the free energy encoded in its kinematic anisotropy and rotation? What specific role do resonances play in the process? How do they operate?
Requirement
Strong interest in theoretical astronomy, dynamics, analytical and numerical work
Framework
The internship will be co-supervised by Simon Prunet et Christophe Pichon (IAP, Paris) as part of the SEGAL ANR (www.secular-evolution.org).
References
