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Multiple populations in globular clusters : The distinct kinematic imprints of different formation scenarios

Hénault-Brunet, V. ; Gieles, M. ; Agertz, O. LU and Read, J. I. (2015) In Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 450(2). p.1164-1198
Abstract

Several scenarios have been proposed to explain the presence of multiple stellar populations in globular clusters. Many of them invoke multiple generations of stars to explain the observed chemical abundance anomalies, but it has also been suggested that self-enrichment could occur via accretion of ejecta from massive stars on to the circumstellar disc of low-mass pre-main sequence stars. These scenarios imply different initial conditions for the kinematics of the various stellar populations. Given some net angular momentum initially, models for which a second generation forms from gas that collects in a cooling flow into the core of the cluster predict an initially larger rotational amplitude for the polluted stars compared to the... (More)

Several scenarios have been proposed to explain the presence of multiple stellar populations in globular clusters. Many of them invoke multiple generations of stars to explain the observed chemical abundance anomalies, but it has also been suggested that self-enrichment could occur via accretion of ejecta from massive stars on to the circumstellar disc of low-mass pre-main sequence stars. These scenarios imply different initial conditions for the kinematics of the various stellar populations. Given some net angular momentum initially, models for which a second generation forms from gas that collects in a cooling flow into the core of the cluster predict an initially larger rotational amplitude for the polluted stars compared to the pristine stars. This is opposite to what is expected from the accretion model, where the polluted stars are the ones crossing the core and are on preferentially radial (low-angular momentum) orbits, such that their rotational amplitude is lower. Here we present the results of a suite of N-body simulations with initial conditions chosen to capture the distinct kinematic properties of these pollution scenarios. We show that initial differences in the kinematics of polluted and pristine stars can survive to the present epoch in the outer parts of a large fraction of Galactic globular clusters. The differential rotation of pristine and polluted stars is identified as a unique kinematic signature that could allow us to distinguish between various scenarios, while other kinematic imprints are generally very similar from one scenario to the other.

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author
; ; and
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
keywords
Galaxies: star clusters: general, Globular clusters: general, Stars: kinematics and dynamics
in
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
volume
450
issue
2
pages
35 pages
publisher
Oxford University Press
external identifiers
  • scopus:84938152235
ISSN
0035-8711
DOI
10.1093/mnras/stv675
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
77524770-a7f5-4fe6-ba32-98975e99da19
date added to LUP
2019-02-07 11:16:02
date last changed
2022-02-15 08:34:44
@article{77524770-a7f5-4fe6-ba32-98975e99da19,
  abstract     = {{<p>Several scenarios have been proposed to explain the presence of multiple stellar populations in globular clusters. Many of them invoke multiple generations of stars to explain the observed chemical abundance anomalies, but it has also been suggested that self-enrichment could occur via accretion of ejecta from massive stars on to the circumstellar disc of low-mass pre-main sequence stars. These scenarios imply different initial conditions for the kinematics of the various stellar populations. Given some net angular momentum initially, models for which a second generation forms from gas that collects in a cooling flow into the core of the cluster predict an initially larger rotational amplitude for the polluted stars compared to the pristine stars. This is opposite to what is expected from the accretion model, where the polluted stars are the ones crossing the core and are on preferentially radial (low-angular momentum) orbits, such that their rotational amplitude is lower. Here we present the results of a suite of N-body simulations with initial conditions chosen to capture the distinct kinematic properties of these pollution scenarios. We show that initial differences in the kinematics of polluted and pristine stars can survive to the present epoch in the outer parts of a large fraction of Galactic globular clusters. The differential rotation of pristine and polluted stars is identified as a unique kinematic signature that could allow us to distinguish between various scenarios, while other kinematic imprints are generally very similar from one scenario to the other.</p>}},
  author       = {{Hénault-Brunet, V. and Gieles, M. and Agertz, O. and Read, J. I.}},
  issn         = {{0035-8711}},
  keywords     = {{Galaxies: star clusters: general; Globular clusters: general; Stars: kinematics and dynamics}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{04}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{1164--1198}},
  publisher    = {{Oxford University Press}},
  series       = {{Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society}},
  title        = {{Multiple populations in globular clusters : The distinct kinematic imprints of different formation scenarios}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stv675}},
  doi          = {{10.1093/mnras/stv675}},
  volume       = {{450}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}