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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Francisco Sanchez-Salcedo, Professor Axel Brandenburg
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The drag force experienced by a gravitational body moving in a straight-line trajectory through a homogeneous isothermal gaseous medium of given sound speed is investigated numerically. For perturbers with constant velocity, linear theory describes successfully the temporal evolution and magnitude of the force. The result obtained recently by E. Ostriker - that for Mach numbers ℳ = 1-2 the force is stronger in a gaseous medium than in a collisionless medium, as described by the standard Chandrisekhar formula - is confirmed. The corresponding minimum impact radius rmin for a body described with a Plummer model with core radius Rsoft, is rmin/Rsoft ≈ 2.25. When M < 1, the drag force is strongly suppressed, which is consistent with Ostriker's results but in disagreement with the Chandrasekhar formula. However, when the perturber is decelerated by its own wake to M < 1, the effective drag force remains initially somewhat larger than the value in the case of constant velocity because it takes some time to get rid of the wake that was generated during its supersonic history.
Author(s): Sanchez-Salcedo FJ, Brandenburg A
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Astrophysical Journal
Year: 1999
Volume: 522
Issue: 1
Pages: L35-L38
Print publication date: 01/09/1999
ISSN (print): 0004-637X
ISSN (electronic): 1538-4357
Publisher: Institute of Physics Publishing, Inc.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/312215
DOI: 10.1086/312215
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