Modeling Dense Star Clusters in the Milky Way and Beyond with the $\texttt{CMC}$ Cluster Catalog

TL;DR

This paper presents 148 N-body simulations of globular clusters using the CMC code, covering a wide range of properties and ages, to study their evolution and the formation of various astrophysical sources.

Contribution

The study introduces a comprehensive set of simulations modeling globular clusters with diverse properties, including black hole dynamics and source formation, over a Hubble time.

Findings

Black holes influence core collapse processes.

Dynamical interactions lead to formation of X-ray binaries and pulsars.

Simulations span a wide range of metallicities and ages.

Abstract

We present a set of 148 independent $N$-body simulations of globular clusters (GCs) computed using the code $\texttt{CMC}$ ($\texttt{Cluster Monte Carlo}$). At an age of $\sim10-13\,$Gyr, the resulting models cover nearly the full range of cluster properties exhibited by the Milky Way GCs, including total mass, core and half-light radii, metallicity, and galactocentric distance. We use our models to investigate the role that stellar-mass black holes play in the process of core collapse. Furthermore, we study how dynamical interactions affect the formation and evolution of several important types of sources in GCs, including low-mass X-ray binaries, millisecond pulsars, blue stragglers, cataclysmic variables, Type Ia supernovae, calcium-rich transients, and merging compact binaries. While our focus here is on old, low-metallicity GCs, our $\texttt{CMC}$ simulations follow the evolution of clusters over a Hubble time, and they include a wide range of metallicities (up to solar), so that our results can also be used to study younger and higher-metallicity star clusters.