Intra-cluster Globular Clusters in a Simulated Galaxy Cluster

RAMOS-ALMENDARES, FELIPE; ABADI, MARIO; MURIEL, HERNÁN; COENDA, VALERIA

The Astrophysical Journal

University of Chicago Press

Lugar: Chicago; Año: 2018 vol. 853

Using a cosmological dark matter simulation of a galaxy-cluster halo, we follow the temporal evolution of its globular cluster population. To mimic the red and blue globular cluster populations, we select at high redshift $(zsim 1)$ two sets of particles from individual galactic halos constrained by the fact that, at redshift z = 0, they have density profiles similar to observed ones. At redshift z = 0, approximately 60% of our selected globular clusters were removed from their original halos building up the intra-cluster globular cluster population, while the remaining 40% are still gravitationally bound to their original galactic halos. As the blue population is more extended than the red one, the intra-cluster globular cluster population is dominated by blue globular clusters, with a relative fraction that grows from 60% at redshift z = 0 up to 83% for redshift $zsim 2$. In agreement with observational results for the Virgo galaxy cluster, the blue intra-cluster globular cluster population is more spatially extended than the red one, pointing to a tidally disrupted origin.