Physical Review Special Topics. Accelerators and Beams (Oct 2009)
Gravitational instability of a nonrotating galaxy
Abstract
Gravitational instability of the distribution of stars in a galaxy is a well-known phenomenon in astrophysics. This report is an attempt to analyze this phenomenon by applying standard tools developed in accelerator physics. It is found that a nonrotating galaxy would become unstable if its size exceeds a certain limit that depends on its mass density and its temperature.