Oleg Gnedin

Globular Clusters as Tracers of Galaxy Assembly

Abstract: Recent advances in modeling galaxy formation indicate that massive star clusters trace the assembly of their host galaxies. Many questions still remain: Do galactic mergers produce or destroy clusters? Do the red and blue cluster systems form at different times, and in different environments? Why do some dwarf galaxies form globular clusters very efficiently, and others not at all? I will review the current efforts to incorporate the formation of massive star clusters in galaxy formation models, and to understand the environmental factors affecting chemical abundances of globular clusters. Massive star clusters are particularly important in high-redshift galaxies and in local dwarf galaxies, where they contribute a high fraction of stellar mass and may play a critical role in regulating the overall star formation rate. I will also discuss new observations and modeling of globular clusters in the most massive elliptical galaxies, what they are telling us about the assembly of these galaxies, and some surprising results.