{
  "id": "1808.07080",
  "version": "v1",
  "published": "2018-08-21T18:42:47.000Z",
  "updated": "2018-08-21T18:42:47.000Z",
  "title": "A universal route for the formation of massive star clusters in giant molecular clouds",
  "authors": [
    "Corey S. Howard",
    "Ralph E. Pudritz",
    "William E. Harris"
  ],
  "comment": "Submitted version to Nature Astronomy. Final published paper, and online supplementary material, available at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-018-0506-0",
  "doi": "10.1038/s41550-018-0506-0",
  "categories": [
    "astro-ph.GA"
  ],
  "abstract": "Young massive star clusters (YMCs, with M $\\geq$10$^4$ M$_{\\odot}$) are proposed modern-day analogues of the globular clusters (GCs) that were products of extreme star formation in the early universe. The exact conditions and mechanisms under which YMCs form remain unknown -- a fact further complicated by the extreme radiation fields produced by their numerous massive young stars. Here we show that GC-sized clusters are naturally produced in radiation-hydrodynamic simulations of isolated 10$^7$ M$_{\\odot}$ Giant Molecular Clouds (GMCs) with properties typical of the local universe, even under the influence of radiative feedback. In all cases, these massive clusters grow to GC-level masses within 5 Myr via a roughly equal combination of filamentary gas accretion and mergers with several less massive clusters. Lowering the heavy-element abundance of the GMC by a factor of 10 reduces the opacity of the gas to radiation and better represents the high-redshift formation conditions of GCs. This results in higher gas accretion leading to a mass increase of the largest cluster by a factor of ~4. When combined with simulations of less massive GMCs (10$^{4-6}$ M$_{\\odot}$), a clear relation emerges between the maximum YMC mass and the mass of the host GMC. Our results demonstrate that YMCs, and potentially GCs, are a simple extension of local cluster formation to more massive clouds and do not require suggested exotic formation scenarios.",
  "revisions": [
    {
      "version": "v1",
      "updated": "2018-08-21T18:42:47.000Z"
    }
  ],
  "analyses": {
    "keywords": [
      "giant molecular clouds",
      "massive star clusters",
      "universal route",
      "ymcs form remain unknown",
      "massive clusters"
    ],
    "tags": [
      "journal article"
    ],
    "publication": {
      "publisher": "Nature"
    },
    "note": {
      "typesetting": "TeX",
      "pages": 0,
      "language": "en",
      "license": "arXiv",
      "status": "editable"
    }
  }
}