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arXiv 1502.02670astro-ph.GA
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在LCDM框架下老球状星团的相对和绝对年龄

The relative and absolute ages of old globular clusters in the LCDM framework

Michele Trenti, Paolo Padoan, Raul Jimenez

摘要:

银河系中古老的球状星团(GC)的年龄大约为13 Gyr,它们的形成时间在再电离时期。我们提出了一个新的方案,形成这些系统的基础上合并的两个或两个以上的原子冷却晕在高红移(z>6)。第一代恒星是在一个小晕中心的强烈爆发中形成的,该小晕在其冷却时间尺度(~ 1.5亿年)内经历了一次大合并,并在氢冷却阈值(晕质量M_h~10^8 Msun)以上增长。随后的小合并和持续的气体注入在晕中心带来了新的原始气体供应,创造了可能引发新的恒星形成事件的条件。在主星系晕的组装过程中,GC周围的暗物质晕被剥离。小晕合并是有效的,只有在一个很短的红移窗口,设置的LCDM参数,使我们能够作出强有力的预测年龄分布的老GC。从宇宙学模拟中,我们得到平均合并红移<z>=9,窄分布Dz=2,这意味着平均GC年龄<t_age>=13.0+/-0.2 Gyr,包括~0.2 Gyr的恒星形成延迟。定性地说,我们的方案再现了其他一般的旧GC性质(特征质量和物体数量,金属丰度与银河中心半径的关系,径向分布),但与年龄不同,这些通常取决于重子物理学的细节。除了改进的年龄测量,在z~10的模型的直接验证可能是在詹姆斯韦伯太空望远镜的超深引力透镜观测范围内。

英文摘要:

Old Globular Clusters (GCs) in the Milky Way have ages of about 13 Gyr, placing their formation time in the reionization epoch. We propose a novel scenario for the formation of these systems based on the merger of two or more atomic cooling halos at high-redshift (z>6). First generation stars are formed as an intense burst in the center of a minihalo that grows above the threshold for hydrogen cooling (halo mass M_h~10^8 Msun) by undergoing a major merger within its cooling timescale (~150 Myr). Subsequent minor mergers and sustained gas infall bring new supply of pristine gas at the halo center, creating conditions that can trigger new episodes of star formation. The dark-matter halo around the GC is then stripped during assembly of the host galaxy halo. Minihalo merging is efficient only in a short redshift window, set by the LCDM parameters, allowing us to make a strong prediction on the age distribution for old GCs. From cosmological simulations we derive an average merging redshift <z>=9 and narrow distribution Dz=2, implying average GC age <t_age>=13.0+/-0.2 Gyr including ~0.2 Gyr of star formation delay. Qualitatively, our scenario reproduces other general old GC properties (characteristic masses and number of objects, metallicity versus galactocentric radius anticorrelation, radial distribution), but unlike age, these generally depend on details of baryonic physics. In addition to improved age measurements, direct validation of the model at z~10 may be within reach of ultradeep gravitationally lensed observations with the James Webb Space Telescope.

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