"Lessons From Simulations of the Early Evolution of Star Clusters"

Abstract:

Stars form together in the same turbulent giant molecular cloud, making groups and clusters with a variety of masses and sizes. Some of these groups will survive as bound clusters for hundreds of millions of years or more, while others will disperse into the galactic field very quickly. Understanding the formation, life, and fate of star clusters is relevant for many fields in astronomy -- for example, all stars (and their planetary systems) spend at least some time in clustered environment, while at much larger scales, star clusters are used as tracers of galaxy assembly.

Assembling a star cluster is a stochastic combination of sub-cluster formation, mergers, and accretion of gas onto the proto-clusters. The early structural and kinematic evolution of star clusters is driven by the interplay between gas and stars; the initial properties of the cloud from which the stars formed; the galactic environment in which the clusters find themselves; and the properties of the stars themselves. Stars, particularly massive stars, are primarily found in binaries or higher order multiple systems. The interplay between stellar dynamics and binary evolution will also have a direct impact on both the stellar populations in clusters and on the properties of the clusters themselves.

In this talk, I will describe a variety of simulations which shed light on the physical processes and timescales that drive star cluster evolution, including different treatments of gas physics and stellar populations. I will also link simulation results to observational analyses of cluster structure and kinematics, and touch on what we can learn from different approaches that may shed light on the multiple populations problem in globular clusters.