Origin of the Globular Cluster Fundamental Plane

Details Origin of the Globular Cluster Fundamental Plane Origin of the Globular Cluster Fundamental Plane

Jul 2004

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2004hst..prop10323m&link_type=abstract

HST Proposal ID #10323

Computer Science

Hst Proposal Id #10323 Stellar Populations

Scientific paper

HST has provided many revolutionary new insights on the existence, formation and properties of star clusters in the Universe. One of the most important findings has been that star formation in almost any environment involves the formation of massive stellar clusters which look very much like what is expected of halo globular clusters when they were young. This discovery has rejuvenated ideas about globular cluster formation and star formation in general. Nonetheless, our understanding of the globular cluster formation process remains woefully incomplete. Although the integrated properties of globular clusters in external galaxies have long been studied from the ground, only with Hubble has it become possible to resolve the interiors of individual clusters in the halo of M31 and more distant galaxies. This has shown that globular clusters always have the same typical half-light radius of about 3 pc. This generalizes earlier findings for Milky Way clusters to a wide range of galactic environments and metallicities. Even more, with Hubble it is becoming increasingly clear that the same is true for young massive clusters. Phrased differently, the properties of clusters of all types define a remarkably uniform fundamental plane. While the ubiquity of this plane becomes clearer with every new Hubble observation, it remains a mystery what processes during cluster formation regulate its existence. It is also not understood why clusters {size independent of mass} and galaxies {size increases with mass} follow such different scaling relations. We will target these questions with a theoretical study of cluster formation. Using a semi-analytical approach we will study which processes and parameters are the driving force behind the observed relations. Theoretical work is badly needed to provide a coherent framework for the interpretation of the many important cluster results that Hubble has provided. Our study is therefore ideally suited for the Hubble Theory Program.

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