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Efficient solution of the anisotropic spherically-aligned axisymmetric Jeans equations of stellar hydrodynamics for galactic dynamics

Abstract:
I present a flexible solution for the axisymmetric Jeans equations of stellar hydrodynamics under the assumption of an anisotropic (three-integral) velocity ellipsoid aligned with the spherical polar coordinate system. I describe and test a robust and efficient algorithm for its numerical computation. I outline the evaluation of the intrinsic velocity moments and the projection of all first and second velocity moments, including both the line-of-sight velocities and the proper motions. This spherically-aligned Jeans Anisotropic Modelling (JAMsph) method can describe in detail the photometry and kinematics of real galaxies. It allows for a spatially-varying anisotropy, or stellar mass-to-light ratios gradients, as well as for the inclusion of general dark matter distributions and supermassive black holes. The JAMsph method complements my previously derived cylindrically-aligned JAMcyl and spherical Jeans solutions, which I also summarize in this paper. Comparisons between results obtained with either JAMsph or JAMcyl can be used to asses the robustness of inferred dynamical quantities. As an illustration, I modelled the ATLAS3D sample of 260 early-type galaxies with high-quality integral-field spectroscopy, using both methods. I found that they provide statistically indistinguishable total-density logarithmic slopes. This may explain the previously-reported success of the JAM method in recovering density profiles of real or simulated galaxies. A reference software implementation of JAMsph is included in the publicly-available JAM software package.
Publication status:
Published
Peer review status:
Peer reviewed

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Publisher copy:
10.1093/mnras/staa959

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Institution:
University of Oxford
Division:
MPLS
Department:
Physics
Role:
Author
ORCID:
0000-0002-1283-8420


Publisher:
Oxford University Press
Journal:
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society More from this journal
Volume:
494
Issue:
4
Pages:
4819–4837
Publication date:
2020-04-09
Acceptance date:
2020-04-02
DOI:
EISSN:
1365-2966
ISSN:
0035-8711


Language:
English
Keywords:
Pubs id:
1035162
Local pid:
pubs:1035162
Deposit date:
2020-04-15

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