Isotropic-Nematic Phase Transitions in Gravitational Systems II: Higher Order Multipoles

TL;DR

This paper investigates the equilibrium states and phase transitions of gravitational systems with higher order multipoles, revealing a first order transition between disk-like and spherical configurations and the impact of multipoles on system structure.

Contribution

It extends previous models by including higher order multipoles in gravitational interactions, analyzing their effect on phase behavior and equilibrium configurations.

Findings

No qualitative difference from quadrupole-only models in system behavior.

Identifies a first order phase transition between disk and spherical phases.

High order multipoles are most effectively erased during phase transition.

Abstract

The gravitational interaction among bodies orbiting in a spherical potential leads to the rapid relaxation of the orbital planes' distribution, a process called vector resonant relaxation. We examine the statistical equilibrium of this process for a system of bodies with similar semimajor axes and eccentricities. We extend the previous model of Roupas et al. (2017) by accounting for the multipole moments beyond the quadrupole, which dominate the interaction for radially overlapping orbits. Nevertheless, we find no qualitative differences between the behavior of the system with respect to the model restricted to the quadrupole interaction. The equilibrium distribution resembles a counterrotating disk at low temperature and a spherical structure at high temperature. The system exhibits a first order phase transition between the disk and the spherical phase in the canonical ensemble if the total angular momentum is below a critical value. We find that the phase transition erases the high order multipoles, i.e. small-scale structure in angular momentum space, most efficiently. The system admits a maximum entropy and a maximum energy, which lead to the existence of negative temperature equilibria.