A numerical investigation is undertaken of both the three-dimensional distribution and the vertical density distribution in galactic disks, where the physical mechanism is the scattering of stars off giant molecular clouds (GMCs) which heat up the stellar populations. The numerical growth rates obtained are sufficient to explain the velocity dispersions of young stellar populations in the solar neighborhood, although it is necessary to postulate higher masses or larger numbers of GMCs at earlier times in order to explain the velocity dispersions of the hottest disk populations. The velocity distribution is vertically isothermal, and both it and the vertical density distribution are Gaussian.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
J. V. Villumsen (1985) studied this question.