The merger time of binary globular clusters

Abstract

In a binary globular cluster the tidal forces increase the internal energy of the clusters and may lead to either merger or disruption of a cluster depending upon whether the two clusters are !of equal mass or vary much in mass. Since the physical process of merger is the same for both galaxy and cluster pairs, we have estimated the merger time and disruption time for two globular clusters by using the simple formulae used for merger time of binary spherical galaxies derived by integrating the tidal force over one period of the binary. The results thus obtained are compared with those of n-body simulations and the agreement is found to be fairly good.