Related papers: Evolution of globular cluster systems in elliptica…
We analyze the luminosity function of the globular clusters (GCs) belonging to the early-type galaxies observed in the ACS Virgo Cluster Survey. We have obtained estimates for a Gaussian representation of the GC luminosity function (GCLF)…
Several recent studies have shown that the star cluster initial mass function (CIMF) can be well approximated by a power law, with indications for a steepening or truncation at high masses. This contribution considers the evolution of such…
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…
[abridged] Stars are thought to be formed predominantly in clusters. The clusters are formed following a cluster initial mass function (CMF) similar to the stellar initial mass function (IMF). Both the IMF and the CMF favour low-mass…
In this thesis we study several aspects of dynamical evolution of stellar clusters. The results of more than 200 simulations of single-mass star clusters with different initial total mass, half-mass radius and galactocentric distance, are…
Using 3.6$\mu$m images of 97 early-type galaxies, we develop and verify methodology to measure globular cluster populations from the S$^4$G survey images. We find that 1) the ratio, T$_{\rm N}$, of the number of clusters, N$_{\rm CL}$, to…
We propose an evolutionary model to describe the dynamical evolution of star cluster systems in tidal fields, in which we calibrated the parametric equations defining the model by running direct N-body simulations of star clusters with a…
We present the stellar mass-size relations for elliptical, lenticular, and spiral galaxies in the field and cluster environments using HST/ACS imaging and data from the Space Telescope A901/2 Galaxy Evolution Survey (STAGES). We use a large…
We compared the properties of 56 elliptical galaxies selected from three clusters at $1.2<z<1.4$ with those of field galaxies in the GOODS-S (~30), COSMOS (~180) and CANDELS (~220) fields. We studied the relationships among effective…
We present an analysis of the globular cluster systems of 28 elliptical galaxies using archival WFPC2 images in the V and I-bands. The V-I color distributions of at least 50% of the galaxies appear to be bimodal {\it at the present level of…
The existence of globular clusters (GCs) in a few satellite galaxies, and their absence in majority of dwarf galaxies, present a challenge for models attempting to understand the origins of GCs. In addition to GC presence appearing…
We investigate the dependence of ellipticities of clusters of galaxies on cosmological parameters using large-scale cosmological simulations. We determine cluster ellipticities out to redshift unity for LCDM models with different mean…
We study M/L evolution of early-type galaxies using dynamical modeling of resolved internal kinematics. This makes fewer assumptions than Fundamental Plane (FP) studies and provides a powerful new approach for studying galaxy evolution. We…
In this work we determine the total globular cluster (GC) counts and globular cluster system (GCS) total mass estimates for 27 extremely massive elliptical galaxies. The GC 2D spatial distributions of these galaxies were created from…
We present a simple model for the host mass dependence of the galaxy nucleation fraction ($f_{nuc}$), the galaxy's nuclear star cluster (NSC) mass and the mass in its surviving globular clusters ($M_{GC,obs}$). Considering the mass and…
The observed mass-to-light (M/L) ratios of globular clusters (GCs) are on average ~20% lower than expected from Simple Stellar Population (SSP) models, which only account for the effects of stellar evolution. We study the M/L ratio…
The degree of mass loss, i.e. the fraction of stars lost by globular clusters, and specifically by their different populations, is still poorly understood. Many scenarios of the formation of multiple stellar populations, especially the ones…
Globular clusters are often assumed to be good tracers of major star formation episodes in their host galaxies. While observations over the past 2 decades have confirmed the presence of young objects with globular cluster-like properties in…
[Abridged] We studied the size-surface brightness and the size-mass relations of a sample of 16 cluster elliptical galaxies in the mass range 10^{10}-2x10^{11} M_sun which were morphologically selected in the cluster RDCS J0848+4453 at…
A brief overview of the properties of massive star clusters in early-type galaxies is given. All ellipticals (with only one known exception) host massive star clusters in the form of globular clusters, suggesting that their formation is…