Data Analysis of Globular Cluster Harris Catalogue in view of the King models and their dynamical evolution. I. Theoretical model

TL;DR

This paper introduces a thermodynamical approach using King distribution functions to analyze globular cluster evolution and the gravothermal catastrophe within a statistical mechanics framework.

Contribution

It presents a novel method to study globular clusters as sequences of quasi-equilibrium states using thermodynamics and King models.

Findings

Thermodynamical equations for self-gravitating systems are derived.

Globular cluster evolution can be modeled as a sequence of quasi-equilibrium states.

Insights into gravothermal catastrophe mechanisms are provided.

Abstract

We discuss the possibility to analyze the problem of gravothermal catastrophe in a new way, by obtaining thermodynamical equations to apply to a selfgravitating system. By using the King distribution function in the framework of statistical mechanics we treat the globular clusters evolution as a sequence of quasi-equilibrium thermodynamical states.