Related papers: Star Clusters
Young, massive star clusters are the most notable and significant end products of violent star-forming episodes triggered by galaxy collisions, mergers, and close encounters. Their contribution to the total luminosity induced by such…
Star clusters stand at the intersection of much of modern astrophysics: the interstellar medium, gravitational dynamics, stellar evolution, and cosmology. Here we review observations and theoretical models for the formation, evolution, and…
Our current understanding of the stellar initial mass function and massive star evolution suggests that young globular clusters may have formed hundreds to thousands of stellar-mass black holes, the remnants of stars with initial masses…
A novel way of looking at the evolution of star clusters is presented. With a dynamical temperature, given by the mean kinetic energy of the cluster stars, and a dynamical luminosity, which is defined as the kinetic energy of the stars…
The realization that most stars form in clusters, raises the question of whether star/planet formation are influenced by the cluster environment. The stellar density in the most prevalent clusters is the key factor here. Whether dominant…
The present paper reviews massive star (initial mass smaller than 120 M0) and very massive star (initial mass larger than 120 M0) evolution. I will focus on evolutionary facts and questions that may critically affect predictions of…
Young stars form on a wide range of scales, producing aggregates and clusters with various degrees of gravitational self-binding. The loose aggregates have a hierarchical structure in both space and time that resembles interstellar…
In this paper we address the issue of the origin of some observational properties of the galactic globular cluster system. After a preliminary study of some general properties of the main evolutionary processes, we investigate the evolution…
Many, possibly most, stars form in binary and higher-order multiple systems. Therefore, the properties and frequency of binary systems provide strong clues to the star-formation process, and constraints on star-formation models. However,…
Triple stellar systems, consisting of three gravitationally bound stars, play a fundamental role in a wide array of astrophysical processes, from stellar evolution to the formation of exotic objects and gravitational wave sources. This…
The formation of massive stars is one of the major unsolved problems in stellar astrophysics. However, only few if any of these are found as single stars, on average massive stars have more than one companion. Many of them are born in dense…
Orbital evolution of binary systems in dense stellar clusters is important in a variety of contexts: origin of blue stragglers, progenitors of compact object mergers, millisecond pulsars, and so on. Here we consider the general problem of…
We present the first study of the dynamical evolution of an isolated star cluster that combines a significant population of primordial binaries with the presence of a central black hole. We use equal-mass direct N-body simulations, with N…
Most stars, perhaps even all stars, form in crowded stellar environments. Such star forming regions typically dissolve within ten million years, while others remain bound as stellar groupings for hundreds of millions to billions of years,…
Observations and theoretical work suggest that globular clusters may be born with initially very large binary fractions. We present first results from our newly modified Monte-Carlo cluster evolution code, which treats binary interactions…
How starburst clusters form out of molecular clouds is still an open question. In this article, I highlight some of the key constraints in this regard, that one can get from the dynamical evolutionary properties of dense stellar systems. I…
We model the dynamics of test binaries in isotropic, multi-mass models of galactic globular clusters. The evolution of binary orbits through the cluster potentials is modeled, including second order diffusion terms, and probabilities for…
We investigate the properties and evolution of star particles in two simulations of isolated spiral galaxies, and two galaxies from cosmological simulations. Unlike previous numerical work, where typically each star particle represents one…
Recent progress in studies of globular clusters has shown that they are not simple stellar populations, being rather made of multiple generations. Evidence stems both from photometry and spectroscopy. A new paradigm is then arising for the…
The formation of massive stellar clusters in turbulent molecular clouds is investigated. We include artificial star formation and energy feedback of newly born stars. The obtained systems are not likely to survive. Case studies to determine…