Dark matter and the origin of galaxies and globular star clusters

Abstract

A cosmological model based on a set of simple and currently popular ideas, and on the assumption that the mass of the universe is dominated by weakly interacting matter with negligible primeval pressure, yields two characteristic scales, one of which might naturally be identified with galaxies, the other with globular star clusters. The globular clusters tend to form with extended dark halos. The possible role of such halos in accounting for observed globular cluster systematics and the possible observational tests for dark halos are discussed.