The evolution of clusters of galaxies. II: Tidal stripping versus mergers as a function of richness

A previously described Monte Carlo code has been improved and used to investigate the evolution of clusters of galaxies of different richness. With one important exception, results of the previous study are confirmed. Under a specific set of assumptions about cluster conditions at virialization, the simulations do account for a number of observed properties of clusters. In particular, starting with 85% of the cluster mass in the intracluster medium, roughly 25% of the simulations produced cD galaxies. This percentage is roughly independent of initial or final cluster richness. The dependence of the magnitude of the second ranked galaxy (M/sub 2/) on M/sub 2/-M/sub 1/ predited by these simulations may disagree with observations.