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Abstract The properties of globular clusters (GCs) contain valuable information of their host galaxies and dark-matter halos. In the remarkable example of ultra-diffuse galaxy, NGC5846-UDG1, the GC population exhibits strong radial mass segregation, indicative of dynamical-friction-driven orbital decay, which opens the possibility of using imaging data alone to constrain the dark-matter content of the galaxy. To explore this possibility, we develop a semianalytical model of GC evolution, which starts from the initial mass, structural, and spatial distributions of the GC progenitors, and follows the effects of dynamical friction, tidal evolution, and two-body relaxation. Using Markov Chain Monte Carlo, we forward-model the GCs in a UDG1-like potential to match the observed GC statistics, and to constrain the profile of the host halo and the origin of the GCs. We find that, with the assumptions of zero mass segregation when the star clusters were born, UDG1 is relatively dark-matter-poor compared to what is expected from stellar-to-halo–mass relations, and its halo concentration is lower than the cosmological average, irrespective of having a cuspy or a cored profile. Its GC population has an initial spatial distribution more extended than the smooth stellar distribution. We discuss the results in the context of scaling laws of galaxy–halo connections, and warn against naively using the GC-abundance–halo–mass relation to infer the halo mass of ultra-diffuse galaxies. Our model is generally applicable to GC-rich dwarf galaxies, and is publicly available.
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Great balls of FIRE II: The evolution and destruction of star clusters across cosmic time in a Milky Way-mass galaxy
ABSTRACT The current generation of galaxy simulations can resolve individual giant molecular clouds, the progenitors of dense star clusters. But the evolutionary fate of these young massive clusters, and whether they can become the old globular clusters (GCs) observed in many galaxies, is determined by a complex interplay of internal dynamical processes and external galactic effects. We present the first star-by-star N-body models of massive (N ∼ 105–107) star clusters formed in a FIRE-2 MHD simulation of a Milky Way-mass galaxy, with the relevant initial conditions and tidal forces extracted from the cosmological simulation. We select 895 (∼30 per cent) of the YMCs with >6 × 104 M⊙ from Grudić et al. 2022 and integrate them to z = 0 using the cluster Monte Carlo code, CMC. This procedure predicts a MW-like system with 148 GCs, predominantly formed during the early, bursty mode of star formation. Our GCs are younger, less massive, and more core-collapsed than clusters in the Milky Way or M31. This results from the assembly history and age-metallicity relationship of the host galaxy: Younger clusters are preferentially born in stronger tidal fields and initially retain fewer stellar-mass black holes, causing them to lose mass faster and reach core collapse sooner than older GCs. Our results suggest that the masses and core/half-light radii of GCs are shaped not only by internal dynamical processes, but also by the specific evolutionary history of their host galaxies. These results emphasize that N-body studies with realistic stellar physics are crucial to understanding the evolution and present-day properties of GC systems.
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- PAR ID:
- 10428539
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Volume:
- 521
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 0035-8711
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 124 to 147
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
-
Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stad578
