Related papers: How to Form (Twin) Globular Clusters?
The picture of the early evolution of globular clusters has been significantly revised in recent years. Current scenarios require at least two generations of stars of which the first generation (1G), and therefore also the protocluster…
Stars in globular clusters (GCs) exhibit a peculiar chemical pattern with strong abundance variations in light elements along with a constant abundance in heavy elements. These abundance anomalies can be explained by a primordial pollution…
We describe a scheme for the formation of globular cluster systems in early-type galaxies using a semi-analytic model of galaxy formation. Operating within a Lambda CDM cosmology, we assume that metal-poor globular clusters are formed at…
Most Globular Clusters so far examined host (at least) two stellar populations. This feature requires a two--step process, in which the nuclearly processed matter from a first generation (FG) of stars gives birth to a second generation (SG)…
Observational evidence from local star-forming regions mandates that star formation occurs shortly after, or even during, molecular cloud formation. Models of the formation of molecular clouds in large-scale converging flows have identified…
We present a novel approach to the riddle of star cluster multiple populations. Stars form from molecular cores. But not all cores form stars. Following their initial compression, such 'failed' cores re-expand, rather than collapsing. We…
The semi-analytic theory of tidal shocks proves to be a powerful tool to study tidal interactions of star clusters and satellite galaxies with their massive hosts. New models of the globular cluster evolution employ a combination of…
We first discuss recent progress in using the Milky Way globular cluster (GC) system as a `test-bed' for properties derived from integrated spectra and stellar population models. Standard techniques may give rise to spuriously high…
We present a model of globular cluster self-enrichment. In the protogalaxy, cold and dense clouds embedded in the hot protogalactic medium are assumed to be the progenitors of galactic halo globular clusters. The massive stars of a first…
We investigate a simple model for globular cluster (GC) formation. We simulate the violent relaxation of initially homogeneous isothermal stellar spheres and show that it leads to the formation of clusters with radial density profiles that…
Star clusters are known to be formed in turbulent molecular clouds. How turbulence is driven in molecular clouds and what effect this has on star formation is still unclear. We compare a simulation setup with turbulent driving everywhere in…
Many, if not all, galaxies host massive compact objects at their centers. They are present as singularities (super massive black holes) or high density star clusters (nuclear tar clusters). In some cases they coexist, and interact more or…
Traditionally globular clusters and dwarf spheroidal galaxies have been distinguished by using one or more of the following criteria: (1) mass, (2) luminosity, (3) size, (4) mass-to-light ratio and (5) spread in metallicity. However, a few…
The isothermal gravitational collapse and fragmentation of a molecular cloud region and the subsequent formation of a protostellar cluster is investigated numerically. The clump mass spectrum which forms during the fragmentation phase can…
We explore a mechanism for the formation of the first globular clusters, operating during the assembly of dwarf galaxies at high redshifts, z > 10. The substructure in the dark matter and the corresponding potential wells are responsible…
The formation of purely baryonic globular clusters with no gravitationally bound dark matter is still a theoretical challenge. We show that these objects might form naturally whenever there is a relative stream velocity between baryons and…
Recent simulations and observations suggest that star clusters form via the assembling of smaller sub-clusters. Because of their short relaxation time, sub-clusters experience core collapse much earlier than virialized solo-clusters, which…
Dynamical friction and tidal disruption are effective mechanisms of evolution of globular cluster systems, especially in non-axysimmetric galaxies with a central compact nucleus. With a semi-analytical approach based on the knowledge of the…
Most old globular clusters (GCs) in the Galaxy are observed to have internal chemical abundance spreads in light elements. We discuss a new GC formation scenario based on hierarchical star formation within fractal molecular clouds. In the…
We demonstrate that single and binary star clusters can be formed during cloud-cloud collisions triggered by the tidal interaction between the Large and Small Magellanic clouds. We run two different sets of self-consistent numerical…