New Simulations Reveal How Galactic Centers Grow Together

• Researchers from the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) have demonstrated through advanced simulations that nuclear star clusters and nuclear stellar discs grow in tandem rather than through independent processes.
• The galactic bar acts as a "cosmic conveyor belt," channeling gas toward the center to fuel both structures simultaneously.

Understanding Galactic Centers

• Supermassive black holes (SMBHs) at the hearts of galaxies are surrounded by dense nuclear star clusters and nuclear stellar discs.
• Previous observational surveys noted a lack of correlation between the masses and sizes of these features, leading scientists to believe they formed through separate mechanisms.
• The new SMUGGLE-Ring project simulation provides a high-resolution model showing how stellar feedback shapes these galactic cores over billions of years.

Key Findings

• The study explains that the apparent disconnection between clusters and discs is not due to fundamental differences in age or composition, but rather reflects their evolution at different stages.
• Simulations captured a 30-million-solar-mass cluster spiraling into a galactic center to merge with a nuclear star cluster, a process that likely affects the mass of the central SMBH.
• By modeling dark matter as "live particles" rather than a fixed background, the researchers successfully reproduced the "dark gap" often observed in galaxies, which results from the interaction between the stellar bar and dark matter.