Related papers: Galactic nuclei formation and activity induced by …
We review the current knowledge about nuclear star clusters (NSCs), the spectacularly dense and massive assemblies of stars found at the centers of most galaxies. Recent observational and theoretical work suggest that many NSC properties,…
The Galactic Center contains the most massive young clusters in the Galaxy and serves as the closest example of a massive starburst region. Our recent results suggest that the Galactic Center environment produces massive clusters with…
Galaxy interactions and mergers play a significant, but still debated and poorly understood role in the star formation history of galaxies. Numerical and theoretical models cannot yet explain the main properties of merger-induced…
Close encounters and physical collisions between stars in young dense clusters may lead to the formation of very massive stars and black holes via runaway merging. We examine critically some details of this process, using N-body simulations…
Supermassive Black Holes grow at the center of galaxies in consonance with them. In this review we discuss the mass feeding mechanisms that lead to this growth in Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), focusing on constraints derived from…
We review possible dynamical formation processes for central massive black holes in dense star clusters. We focus on the early dynamical evolution of young clusters containing a few thousand to a few million stars. One natural formation…
We discuss how the centres of galaxy clusters evolve in time, showing the results of a series of direct N-body simulations. In particular, we followed the evolution of a galaxy cluster with a mass $M_{clus} \simeq 10^{14} $M$_{\odot}$ in…
Galaxy mergers are common processes in the Universe. As a large fraction of galaxies hosts at their centres a central supermassive black hole (SMBH), mergers can lead to the formation of a supermassive black hole binary (SMBHB). The…
The evolution of a supermassive black hole in the center of galaxy is considered. We analyze the kinetic equation describing relaxation processes associated with stellar encounters. The initial distribution function of stars is assumed to…
Despite observed strong correlations between central supermassive black holes (SMBHs) and star-formation in galactic nuclei, uncertainties exist in our understanding of their coupling. We present observations of the ratio of…
The consequences of nuclear black holes for the structure and dynamics of stellar spheroids are reviewed. Slow growth of a black hole in a pre-existing core produces a steep power-law density profile similar to the cusps seen in faint…
We present a framework that explains the commonly observed variation in light element abundances in globular clusters. If globular clusters form in the centres of dwarf galaxies, they will be pumped onto larger orbits as star formation…
Recent observational results on high spatial resolution images of ultra-luminous infrared galaxies (ULIGs) have revealed very luminous, young, compact, and heavily obscured super star clusters in their central regions, suggested to be…
The centers of galaxies host a supermassive black hole surrounded by a dense stellar cluster. The cluster is expected to develop mass segregation, in which gravitational scatterings among the stars cause heavier objects to sink closer to…
The evolution of globular cluster systems in some galaxies can be cause of merging of globulars in the very central regions. This high stellar density favours the growth of a central nucleus via swallowing of surrounding stars. The infall…
Theoretical considerations and observational data support the idea that mergers were more frequent in the past. At high redshifts, violent interactions and mergers may be implicated in the origin of Lyman-break galaxies, sub-mm starbursts,…
We propose and investigate a new formation mechanism for globular clusters in which they form within molecular clouds that are formed in the shocked regions created by galactic winds driven by successive supernova explosions shortly after…
Globular clusters with composite color-magnitude diagrams, such as NGC 1851, NGC 2808 and Fornax No. 3, might have formed by mergers. It is suggested that each of these objects had two parent clusters, one with a red horizontal branch and…
Globular Cluster (GC) formation seems to be a widespread mode of star formation in extreme starbursts triggered by strong interactions and mergers of massive gas-rich galaxies. We use our detailed chemically consistent evolutionary…
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…