Constraints on blue straggler formation mechanisms in Galactic globular clusters from proper motion velocity distributions

TL;DR

This study compares observed proper motion and mass distributions of blue stragglers in 38 globular clusters with theoretical models to understand their formation mechanisms, finding support for binary mass transfer in most clusters and collisions in some post-core collapse clusters.

Contribution

It provides the first systematic comparison of blue straggler proper motions and masses with detailed simulations to constrain their formation mechanisms in multiple globular clusters.

Findings

Most clusters support binary mass transfer as the primary formation mechanism.

Post-core collapse clusters show evidence of collisional formation.

Proper motion distributions align with theoretical predictions for different formation scenarios.

Abstract

For a sample of 38 Galactic globular clusters (GCs), we confront the observed distributions of blue straggler (BS) proper motions and masses (derived from isochrone fitting) from the BS catalog of Simunovic & Puzia with theoretical predictions for each of the two main competing BS formation mechanisms. These are mass transfer from an evolved donor on to a main-sequence (MS) star in a close binary system, and direct collisions involving MS stars during binary encounters. We use the \texttt{FEWBODY} code to perform simulations of single-binary and binary-binary interactions. This provides collisional velocity and mass distributions for comparison to the observed distributions. Most clusters are consistent with BSs derived from a dynamically relaxed population, supportive of the binary mass-transfer scenario. In a few clusters, including all the post-core collapse clusters in our sample, the collisional velocities provide the best fit.