Star Cluster Ecology I: A Cluster Core with Encounters between Single Stars

Abstract

Star clusters with a high central density contain an ecological network of evolving binaries, affected by interactions with passing stars, while in turn affecting the energy budget of the cluster as a whole by giving off binding energy. This is the first paper in a series aimed at providing the tools for increasingly realistic simulations of these ecological networks.

14 pages including 7 figures, Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics