FORMATION AND EVOLUTION OF STAR CLUSTERS

Michael Fall

October 25, 2012

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Abstract: This talk presents results from several recent theoretical and observational studies of the formation and evolution of star clusters. From these, we obtain an outline of the life cycles of star clusters, from their birth in dense molecular clouds to their eventual dissolution in the diffuse stellar field. We emphasize the physical processes involved and the similarity of the life cycles of clusters in different galaxies. This picture applies to clusters with a wide range of properties and helps to unify a mostly descriptive subject with a complicated nomenclature (including associations and open, populous, super, and globular clusters).