The baltimore and Utrecht models for cluster dissolution

Abstract

The analysis of the age distributions of star cluster samples of different galaxies has resulted in two very different empirical models for the dissolution of star clusters: the Baltimore model and the Utrecht model. I describe these two models and their differences. The Baltimore model implies that the dissolution of star clusters is mass independent and that about 90% of the clusters are destroyed each age dex, up to an age of about a Gyr, after which point mass-dependent dissolution from two-body relaxation becomes the dominant mechanism. In the Utrecht model, cluster dissolution occurs in three stages: (i) mass-independent infant mortality due to the expulsion of gas up to about 107 yr; (ii) a phase of slow dynamical evolution with strong evolutionary fading of the clusters lasting up to about a Gyr; and (iii) a phase dominated by mass-dependent dissolution, as predicted by dynamical models. I describe the cluster age distributions for mass-limited and magnitude-limited cluster samples for both models. I refrain from judging the correctness of these models. © The Author(s) 2009. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com.