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Main Authors: Prodan, George P., Pasquato, Mario, Iorio, Giuliano, Ballone, Alessandro, Torniamenti, Stefano, Di Carlo, Ugo Niccolò, Mapelli, Michela
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.10627
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author Prodan, George P.
Pasquato, Mario
Iorio, Giuliano
Ballone, Alessandro
Torniamenti, Stefano
Di Carlo, Ugo Niccolò
Mapelli, Michela
author_facet Prodan, George P.
Pasquato, Mario
Iorio, Giuliano
Ballone, Alessandro
Torniamenti, Stefano
Di Carlo, Ugo Niccolò
Mapelli, Michela
contents Context. Computational astronomy has reached the stage where running a gravitational N-body simulation of a stellar system, such as a Milky Way star cluster, is computationally feasible, but a major limiting factor that remains is the ability to set up physically realistic initial conditions. Aims. We aim to obtain realistic initial conditions for N-body simulations by taking advantage of machine learning, with emphasis on reproducing small-scale interstellar distance distributions. Methods. The computational bottleneck for obtaining such distance distributions is the hydrodynamics of star formation, which ultimately determine the features of the stars, including positions, velocities, and masses. To mitigate this issue, we introduce a new method for sampling physically realistic initial conditions from a limited set of simulations using Gaussian processes. Results. We evaluated the resulting sets of initial conditions based on whether they meet tests for physical realism. We find that direct sampling based on the learned distribution of the star features fails to reproduce binary systems. Consequently, we show that physics-informed sampling algorithms solve this issue, as they are capable of generating realisations closer to reality.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2409_10627
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A machine learning framework to generate star cluster realisations
Prodan, George P.
Pasquato, Mario
Iorio, Giuliano
Ballone, Alessandro
Torniamenti, Stefano
Di Carlo, Ugo Niccolò
Mapelli, Michela
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Context. Computational astronomy has reached the stage where running a gravitational N-body simulation of a stellar system, such as a Milky Way star cluster, is computationally feasible, but a major limiting factor that remains is the ability to set up physically realistic initial conditions. Aims. We aim to obtain realistic initial conditions for N-body simulations by taking advantage of machine learning, with emphasis on reproducing small-scale interstellar distance distributions. Methods. The computational bottleneck for obtaining such distance distributions is the hydrodynamics of star formation, which ultimately determine the features of the stars, including positions, velocities, and masses. To mitigate this issue, we introduce a new method for sampling physically realistic initial conditions from a limited set of simulations using Gaussian processes. Results. We evaluated the resulting sets of initial conditions based on whether they meet tests for physical realism. We find that direct sampling based on the learned distribution of the star features fails to reproduce binary systems. Consequently, we show that physics-informed sampling algorithms solve this issue, as they are capable of generating realisations closer to reality.
title A machine learning framework to generate star cluster realisations
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.10627