Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 1991. 29: 239-274 Copyright © 1991 by Annual Reviews. All rights reserved

5.1 Equilibrium Models and Stability

A large set of self-consistent triaxial models is needed to help improve the interpretation of the detailed photometric and kinematic observations of elliptical galaxies. Separable as well as scale-free models should be part of this set. It is important to establish if the intrinsic shapes of the latter models are constrained by the orbital structure. Furthermore, the stability of these models should be explored in detail. This is best done with a hybrid strategy, where N-body simulations are complemented with semi-analytic approaches such as the calculation of normal modes via the matrix method (362).