2017年IOAA理论第11题-本星系群的质量

英文原题

Mass of the Local Group [50 marks]

The dynamics of M31 (Andromeda) and the Milky Way (MW) can be used to estimate the total mass of the Local Group (LG). The basic idea is that galaxies currently in a binary system were at approximately the same point in space shortly after the Big Bang. To a reasonable approximation, the mass of the local group is dominated by the masses of the MW and M31. Via Doppler shifts of the spectral lines, it was found that M31 is moving towards the MW with a speed of 118 km s-1. This may be surprising, given that most galaxies are moving away from each other with the general Hubble flow. The fact that M31 is moving towards the MW is presumably because their mutual gravitational attraction has eventually reversed their initial velocities. In principle, if the pair of galaxies is well-represented by isolated point masses, their total mass may be determined by measuring their separation, relative velocity and the time since the universe began.  Kahn and Woltjer (1959) used this argument to estimate the mass in the LG.

In this problem we will follow this argument through our calculation as follows.