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[10.02] Building self-consistent models for periodic potentials

S. E. Levine (U. S. Naval Observatory, Flagstaff Station)

As part of an effort to understand the orbital structure and stability of asymmetric galaxies, we would like to construct self-consistent models of these systems using a weighted sum of allowed orbits. We show how to extend Schwarzschild's (1979) linear programming method to build gravitational potentials like these that vary with time in a periodic manner. In particular, we look at the case of a galaxy bar mis-aligned with respect to a surrounding disk or halo, and the case of a nuclear bar embedded in a larger galactic bar.

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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 34, #3
© 2002. The American Astronomical Society.