Modeling Formation of Globular Clusters: Beacons of Galactic Star Formation

Modern hydrodynamic simulations of galaxy formation are able to predict accurately the rates and locations of the assembly of giant molecular clouds in early galaxies. These clouds could host star clusters with the masses and sizes of real globular clusters. I describe current state-of-the-art simulations aimed at understanding the origin of the cluster mass function and metallicity distribution. Metallicity bimodality of globular cluster systems appears to be a natural outcome of hierarchical formation and gradually declining fraction of cold gas in galaxies. Globular cluster formation was most prominent at redshifts z>3, when massive star clusters may have contributed as much as 20% of all galactic star formation.Comment: Proceedings of IAU Symposium 270, Computational Star Formation, Barcelona, June 201

Contraction of Dark Matter Halos in Response to Condensation of Baryons

The cooling of baryons in the centers of dark matter halos leads to a more concentrated dark matter distribution. This effect has traditionally been calculated using the model of adiabatic contraction, which assumes spherical symmetry, while in hierarchical formation scenarios halos grow via multiple violent mergers. We test the adiabatic contraction model in high-resolution cosmological simulations and find that the dissipation of gas indeed increases the density of dark matter and steepens its radial profile compared to the case without cooling. Although the standard model systematically overpredicts the increase of dark matter density, a simple modification of the assumed invariant from M(r)r to M()r, where is the orbit-averaged particle position, reproduces the simulated profiles within 10%.Comment: 6 pages, invited talk at the XXI IAP Colloquium, Paris, July 200