Abstract
We discuss some of the key open questions regarding the formation and evolution of globular clusters (GCs) during galaxy formation and assembly within a cosmological framework. The current state of the art for both observations and simulations is described, and we briefly mention directions for future research. The oldest GCs have ages greater than or equal to 12.5 Gyr and formed around the time of reionization. Resolved colour-magnitude diagrams of Milky Way GCs and direct imaging of lensed proto-GCs at z∼6 with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) promise further insight. GCs are known to host multiple populations of stars with variations in their chemical abundances. Recently, such multiple populations have been detected in ∼2 Gyr old compact, massive star clusters. This suggests a common, single pathway for the formation of GCs at high and low redshift. The shape of the initial mass function for GCs remains unknown; however, for massive galaxies a power-law mass function is favoured. Significant progress has been made recently modelling GC formation in the context of galaxy formation, with success in reproducing many of the observed GC-galaxy scaling relations.
Highlights
We discuss some of the key open questions regarding the formation and evolution of globular clusters (GCs) during galaxy formation and assembly within
Instead of adopting special conditions for GC formation, which would imply a difference between them and younger star clusters with very similar properties, a simpler approach would be to look for a global model of massive cluster formation
These include: How and when did GCs form? Where did they form and how did they assemble into today’s GC systems? What was their initial mass function? Answers to these questions will come from both observations and simulations
Summary
A small group of researchers were invited by the Royal Society to attend a workshop at Chicheley Hall, Buckinghamshire. Over the course of 2 days (5, 6 April 2017), they presented new results and discussed globular cluster (GC) formation and evolution in the context of galaxy assembly. The article that follows represents some of the discussion from that meeting with a focus on the open questions that were raised and the prospects for answering those questions in the near future. We hope that this article will be of value to other researchers in this field, as well as those in related areas of research
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