Resolving Globular Cluster Formation within a Cosmological Context

TL;DR

This paper investigates the formation of blue globular clusters within a cosmological framework, constraining their formation epochs and demonstrating a simulation approach to model their emergence in the early universe.

Contribution

It introduces a method to constrain globular cluster formation redshifts and presents a proof-of-concept simulation capturing their formation in a cosmological setting.

Findings

BGCs likely formed in biased dark matter halos at high redshift

Most halo stars may originate from destroyed BGCs and early low-mass clusters

Simulation successfully models globular-like star cluster formation

Abstract

We place constraints on the formation redshifts for blue globular clusters (BGCs), independent of the details of hydrodynamics and population III star formation. The observed radial distribution of BGCs in the Milky Way Galaxy suggests that they formed in biased dark matter halos at high redshift. As a result, simulations of a ~1 Mpc box up to z~10 must resolve BGC formation in LCDM. We find that most halo stars could be produced from destroyed BGCs and other low-mass clusters that formed at high redshift. We present a proof-of-concept simulation that captures the formation of globular-like star clusters.