Supplementary material from "Donald Lynden-Bell. 5 April 1935— 6 February 2018"
Version 2 2020-11-11, 15:11
Version 1 2020-07-22, 09:23
Posted on 2020-11-11 - 15:11
Donald Lynden-Bell's many contributions to astrophysics encompass general
relativity, galactic dynamics, telescope design and observational astronomy. In the 1960s,
his papers on stellar dynamics led to fundamental insights into the equilibria of elliptical
galaxies, the growth of spiral patterns in disc galaxies and the stability of differentially
rotating, self-gravitating flows. Donald introduced the ideas of 'violent relaxation' and
'the gravothermal catastrophe' in pioneering work on the thermodynamics of galaxies and
negative heat capacities. He shared the inaugural Kavli Prize in Astrophysics in 2008 for
his contributions to our understanding of quasars. His prediction that dead quasars or
supermassive black holes may reside in the nuclei of nearby galaxies has been confirmed by
multiple pieces of independent evidence. His work on accretion discs led to new insights
into their workings, as well as the realization that the infrared excess in T Tauri stars
was caused by protostellar discs around these young stars. He introduced the influential
idea of monolithic collapse of a gas cloud as a formation mechanism for the Milky Way
Galaxy. As this gave way to modern ideas of merging and accretion as drivers of galaxy
formation, Donald was the first to realize the importance of tidal streams as measures of
the past history and present-day gravity field of the Galaxy. Though primarily a theorist,
Donald participated in one of the first observational programmes to measure the large-scale
streaming of nearby galaxies. This led to the discovery of the 'Great Attractor'. The depth
and versatility of his contributions mark Donald out as one of the most influential and
pre-eminent astronomers of his day.
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Evans, Neil Wyn (2020). Supplementary material from "Donald Lynden-Bell. 5 April 1935— 6 February 2018". The Royal Society. Collection. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5069855.v2
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