Dynamical evolution of massless particles in star clusters with NBODY6++GPU-MASSLESS: II. The long-term evolution of free-floating comets

TL;DR

This study uses advanced N-body simulations to explore how free-floating comets evolve dynamically in star clusters, revealing their limited participation in mass segregation and the influence of initial energy distributions.

Contribution

It introduces the use of NBODY6++GPU-MASSLESS to simulate large populations of massless particles, providing new insights into their dynamical behavior in star clusters.

Findings

Comets do not participate in mass segregation.

External regions of comet populations tend to move back to the cluster core.

Brown dwarfs experience more mass segregation than comets.

Abstract

Context. Comets, asteroids, planetesimals, free-floating planets and brown dwarfs, are continuously injected into the intra-cluster environment after expulsion from their host planetary systems or binary system. The dynamics of large populations of such free-floating comets (ffcs) in a star cluster environment is not yet fully understood. Aims. We investigate the dynamical evolution of comet populations in star clusters, and characterize the kinematics and ejection rates of ffc in a star cluster. Moreover, we determine whether a different initial energy distribution affects the mass segregation of the less massive population. Methods. We carry out simulations using the N-body code NBODY6++GPU-MASSLESS (Flammini Dotti et al. 2025), which allows fast integration of star clusters that contain large numbers of massless particles, to characterize the dynamics of populations of low-mass particles with sub-virial and super-virial distributions. Results. Comets do not participate in the mass segregation process, similarly to planet-size objects, regardless of their initial energy distribution. The latter is slightly changing the whole dynamical evolution at the start of the simulation. We only observe an initial relaxation or collapse of the objects for super-virial and sub-virial ratios, respectively. The external regions of the ffcs population tend to be pulled back in the cluster core at the end of the simulation, suggesting the gravitational pull of the stars is pulling them back in the core. This phenomenon occurs at later times if the system in virial equilibrium. Compared to less massive bodies, brown dwarfs experiences more mass segregation the inner regions tend to be more mixed with the stellar population