Stellar dynamics studies the collective gravitational motion of stars in galaxies and star clusters.

Two-body relaxation

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Two-body relaxation is the cumulative randomization of stellar velocities by many weak gravitational encounters. Its timescale in a system of comparable stars is of order crossing times.
The Coulomb logarithm collects the logarithmically equal contributions of gravitational encounters over a wide range of impact parameters. For a self-gravitating system of comparable stars, is of order .
A stellar system is collisional on a timescale of interest when its two-body relaxation time is shorter than that timescale, so discrete encounters materially alter its distribution function.

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  1. Galaxy dynamics
  2. Galaxy
  3. Astrophysics
  4. Branch of physics
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Stellar dynamics by Wikipedia Bot 1
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Stellar dynamics is a branch of astrophysics that deals with the study of the motions, interactions, and behaviors of stars within galaxies and star clusters. This field combines principles of mechanics, gravity, and statistical methods to understand how stars move and influence one another under the gravitational forces present in these systems.
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