Formation of second-generation stellar populations in globular clusters: the role of binary stars and stellar collisions
摘要
This paper aims to explore the impact of binary stars on the creation of second generation stellar populations using a model based on stellar collisions. This is accomplished by using a simple model of stellar collisions in which two first-generation stars collide and produce a product star belonging to the second-generation stellar population. Clusters are formed with single and binary stars having masses generated from a truncated Pareto distribution using Monte Carlo simulations and the split core pairing algorithm to form binary stars. No triples or further multiple stars are considered. We have considered single-single and single-binary collisions in our model. Then we studied the correlations between the fraction of second-generation stars and the slope of present-day mass function of the after-collision cluster and have compared those with observed data for 49 galactic globular clusters. We find that the fraction of second-generation stars is positively correlated to the slope of mass function for high-mass clusters and low-mass clusters separately. We additionally explore the possible values of the fraction of binary stars, the fraction of colliding single stars, the fraction of colliding binary stars as well as the slopes of the initial mass generating function that led to the formation of the present day observed high mass and low mass clusters.