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Paper: Memory in Mergers Major and Minor
Volume: 92, Formation of the Galactic Halo. . . . Inside and Out
Page: 415
Authors: Barnes, Joshua E.
Abstract: Evolution of stellar-dynamical systems is reversible; given enough information on the phase-space structure of a merged system, its past history may be recovered. In mergers of equal-mass galaxies, kinematic memories of the progenitor disks partly survive violent relaxation. Dissipation introduces an irreversible element into galactic mergers, but in practice many stellar memories are left intact. Unequal-mass mergers are less disruptive of primary disks; in 3:1 encounters up to half the remnants retain disk-like kinematics. Accretion of satellite galaxies seems a viable process for producing the stellar halo, and also for heating the thick disk, of the Milky Way galaxy.
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