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Multiple populations within globular clusters in Early-type galaxies Exploring their effect on stellar initial mass function estimates

Chantereau, W, Usher, CG and Bastian, N (2018) Multiple populations within globular clusters in Early-type galaxies Exploring their effect on stellar initial mass function estimates. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 478 (2). ISSN 0035-8711

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Abstract

It is now well-established that most (if not all) ancient globular clusters host multiple popula- tions, that are characterised by distinct chemical features such as helium abundance variations along with N-C and Na-O anti-correlations, at fixed [Fe/H]. These very distinct chemical fea- tures are similar to what is found in the centres of the massive early-type galaxies and may influence measurements of the global properties of the galaxies. Additionally, recent results have suggested that M/L variations found in the centres of massive early-type galaxies might be due to a bottom-heavy stellar initial mass function. We present an analysis of the effects of globular cluster-like multiple populations on the integrated properties of early-type galaxies. In particular, we focus on spectral features in the integrated optical spectrum and the global mass-to-light ratio that have been used to infer variations in the stellar initial mass function. To achieve this we develop appropriate stellar population synthesis models and take into account, for the first time, an initial-final mass relation which takes into consideration a varying He abundance. We conclude that while the multiple populations may be present in massive early-type galaxies, they are likely not responsible for the observed variations in the mass- to-light ratio and IMF sensitive line strengths. Finally, we estimate the fraction of stars with multiple populations chemistry that come from disrupted globular clusters within massive ellipticals and find that they may explain some of the observed chemical patterns in the centres of these galaxies.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ©: 2018 The Authors Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
Uncontrolled Keywords: astro-ph.GA; astro-ph.GA; astro-ph.SR
Subjects: Q Science > QB Astronomy
Q Science > QC Physics
Divisions: Astrophysics Research Institute
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Related URLs:
Date Deposited: 30 May 2018 08:40
Last Modified: 04 Sep 2021 10:28
DOI or ID number: 10.1093/mnras/sty1209
URI: https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/8710
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