Nuclear Star Clusters in Cosmological Simulations

Abstract

We investigate the possible connection between the most massive globular clusters, such as ω Cen and M54, and nuclear star clusters (NSCs) of dwarf galaxies that exhibit similar spreads in age and metallicity. We examine galactic nuclei in cosmological galaxy formation simulations at z  ≈ 1.5 to explore whether their age and metallicity spreads could explain these massive globular clusters. We derive structural properties of these nuclear regions, including mass, size, rotation, and shape. By using theoretical supernova yields to model the supernova enrichment in the simulations, we obtain individual elemental abundances for Fe, O, Na, Mg, and Al. Our nuclei are systematically more metal-rich than their host galaxies, which lie on the expected mass–metallicity relation. Some nuclei have a spread in Fe and age comparable to the massive globular clusters of the Milky Way, lending support to the hypothesis that NSCs of dwarf galaxies could be the progenitors of these objects. None of our nuclear regions contain the light element abundance spreads that characterize globular clusters, even when a large age spread is present. Our results demonstrate that extended star formation history within clusters, with metal pollution provided solely by supernova ejecta, is capable of replicating the metallicity spreads of massive globular clusters, but still requires another polluter to produce the light element variations.