Empty and full loss-cone capture rates

ID: empty-and-full-loss-cone-capture-rates

Here is the orbital loss cone fraction, an orbital period, and a stellar relaxation time. When angular diffusion per orbit is small relative to the cone, a steady two-dimensional diffusion solution is logarithmic and gives the empty-cone flux. Rapid refilling maintains an approximately isotropic full cone and gives the second rate. Numerical total rates need a stellar density and orbital-energy distribution, not merely a star count.

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