Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2000-12-21
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
7 pages, 3 figures, to appear in 'Modes of Star Formation', eds. Eva Grebel & Wolfgang Brandner, ASP Conf. Ser
Scientific paper
We study the evolution of the galactic globular cluster system to determine its initial mass-function and the fraction of halo stars that could have come from disrupted globular clusters. We study the cluster evolution under the influence of two destruction mechanisms: Two-body relaxation and dynamical friction. New results of N-body simulations are used for the lifetimes of clusters dissolving under the influence of two-body relaxation. Two different mass-functions are studied: A gaussian initial distribution in log(M_C) with mean mass and scatter similar to what one observes for the galactic globular cluster system, and a power-law distribution resembling what is seen for clusters in merging and interacting galaxies. We find that in the inner parts of the galaxy, both distributions evolve in such a way that they are consistent with the observations. In the outer parts, a gaussian initial distribution gives the better fit. This might change however if elliptic orbits are considered, or there are undiscovered low-mass clusters in the galactic halo. In any case, only a small fraction of the stellar halo of the Milky Way originated in globular clusters.
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