Particle-based sampling of N-body simulations

• Published in: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Vol. 401; no. 3; pp. 1898 - 1903
• Main Authors: Faber, N. T., Stibbe, D., Zwart, S. Portegies, McMillan, S. L. W., Boily, C. M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 21-01-2010; Wiley-Blackwell; Oxford University Press
• Subjects: Astronomy; Astrophysics; Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; methods: N-body simulations; methods: numerical; Orbits; Research methodology; Simulation; stars: kinematics; stars: kinematics; methods: numerical; body simulations; methods; methods: N-body simulations; Digital simulation; N body system; Numerical method; Orbits; Stellar kinematics; Fast variation; Equations of motion; Phase space; Time variation
• ISSN: 0035-8711; 1365-2966
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2009.15775.x

This paper introduces a novel approach for sampling the orbits of an N-body simulation. The gist of the method is to exploit individual phase-space coordinates acquired during integration of the equations of motion. This technique, which we dub ‘particle-based sampling scheme’, is tailor-made for resolving rapid time-variation of coordinates when needed. The PBaSS requires less disk space (by factors of 10 or more) to retrieve orbits at a chosen accuracy than those reconstructed using the classic snapshot approach. Furthermore, the PBaSS also allows a reconstruction of the system at any time-resolution not smaller than the smallest integration time-step in a post-simulation treatment, thus avoiding costly simulation reruns.