Related papers: Pregalactic globular cluster formation
Though it is generally assumed that massive molecular clouds are the progenitors of globular clusters, their detailed formation mechanism is still unclear. Standard scenarios based on the collapse of a smooth matter distribution suffer from…
The discovery of young globular clusters in merging galaxies and other environments provides an opportunity to study directly the process of globular cluster formation. Empirically it appears that globular cluster formation occurs…
Globular clusters in galaxies have a mutual feedback with the environment, which is tuned by their dynamical evolution. This feedback may be the explanation of various features of both the globular cluster system and the host galaxy.…
Globular clusters provide a unique probe of galaxy formation and evolution. Here I briefly summarize the known observational properties of globular cluster systems. One re-occurring theme is that the globular cluster systems of spirals and…
The early Universe was composed almost entirely of hydrogen and helium, with only trace amounts of heavy elements. It was only after the first generation of star formation that the Universe became sufficiently polluted to produce a second…
Recent developments relevant to the formation of globular cluster systems in galaxies are discussed, including (1) The age distribution of the oldest Milky Way clusters, (2) Subgroups and possible accretion and merger remnants in the…
I discuss the chemical evolution of star clusters, with emphasis on old globular clusters, in relation to their formation histories. Globular clusters clearly formed in a complex fashion, under markedly different conditions from any younger…
We apply the idea that dense stellar systems in the central region of galaxies are formed via globular cluster mergers to the formation of the nuclear star cluster of the Milky Way, where a massive black hole is present. Our high precision…
Globular clusters (GCs) are thought to be ancient relics from the early formative phase of galaxies, although their physical origin remains uncertain. GCs are most numerous around massive elliptical galaxies, where they can exhibit a broad…
A common mechanism to form primordial black holes in the early universe is by enhancing at small-scales the scalar perturbations generated during inflation. If these fluctuations have a large enough amplitude, they may collapse into…
The origin and formation of globular clusters has remained a mystery. We present a formation scenario for ancient globular cluster-like objects that form in ultra-high resolution simulations (smallest cell size $<0.1\,\mathrm{pc}$, mass…
Primordial black holes (PBHs) may be part of the dark matter. It is shown here that PBHs form more easily during cosmic phase transitions. For approximately scale-invariant primordial curvature fluctuations the PBH mass function may…
Scalar condensates with large expectation values can form in the early universe, for example, in theories with supersymmetry. The condensate can undergo fragmentation into Q-balls before decaying. If the Q-balls dominate the energy density…
Globular clusters are compact, gravitationally bound systems of up to a million stars. The GCs in the Milky Way contain some of the oldest stars known, and provide important clues to the early formation and continuing evolution of our…
The ACS Virgo cluster survey by Cote' and collaborators shows the presence of compact nuclei at the photocenters of many early-type galaxies. It is argued that they are the low-mass counterparts of nuclei hosting Super Massive Black Holes…
I review recent and less recent work on globular cluster systems in early-type galaxies. Explaining their properties and possible assembly scenarios, touches on a variety of astrophysical topics from cluster formation itself to galaxy…
The new element of theory of galaxy formation, strong primordial inhomogeneities, is shown to be a reflection of unstable large scale structures of topological defects, created in second order phase transitions in the inflationary Universe.…
The properties of old globular cluster systems (GCSs) in galaxy halos offer unique insight into the physical processes that conspire to form any generic star cluster, at any epoch. Presented here is a summary of the information obtained…
Using a new physical model for star formation (Padoan 1995) we have tested the possibility that globular clusters (GCs) are formed from primordial mass fluctuations, whose mass scale ($10^8$ - $10^9$ M$_{\odot}$) is selected out of a CDM…
Our early Universe is not perfectly homogeneous and it may contain some inhomogeneous sources, which might distort the local spacetime and modify the bubble nucleation rate. Taking the primordial black hole as an extreme example, we…