The Formation of Giant Elliptical Galaxies and Their Globular Cluster Systems

Abstract

The bimodal globular cluster (GC) metallicity distributions of many giant elliptical galaxies are often cited as evidence for the formation of such galaxies through mergers involving gas-rich spirals. In such models, the metal- rich GCs are assumed to have formed during the merger process. We explore an alternative possibility: that these metal-rich clusters represent the galaxy's intrinsic GC population and that the metal-poor component of the observed GC metallicity distribution arises from the capture of GCs from other galaxies, either through mergers or through tidal stripping. Starting with plausible assumptions for the initial galaxy luminosity function and for the dependence of GC metallicity on parent galaxy luminosity, we show that the growth of a pre-existing seed galaxy through mergers and tidal stripping is accompanied by the capture of metal-poor GCs whose properties are similar to those which are observed to surround giant ellipticals. We describe a method of using the observed number of metal-poor and metal-rich GCs to infer the merger histories of individual elliptical galaxies, and use this technique to derive limits on the number of galaxies and total luminosity accreted to date by M49. We argue that although GC specific frequency is conserved in galaxy mergers, the same may not be true of tidal stripping by the mean field of the host galaxy cluster. Comparisons of model GC metallicity distributions and specific frequencies to those observed for the well-studied galaxies M49 and M87 show that it is possible to explain their bimodal GC metallicity distributions and discordant specific frequencies without resorting to the formation of new GCs in mergers or by invoking multiple bursts of GC formation.