The gas content of young massive clusters

Ivan Cabrera-Ziri

Thursday December 6th, 09:00

Studies during the last decade have revealed that nearly all Globular Clusters (GCs) host multiple populations (MPs) of stars with a distinctive chemical patterns in light elements. Young massive clusters (YMCs) have masses and densities similar to those expected of young GCs in the early universe, hence they are ideal places to test GC formation theories. We present the latest constraints on the gas content of young ( 1-1000 Myr) star clusters. We find them to be gas free from very early ages, sometimes just after few Myr (even before the SNe). Also, they seem to remain this way throughout their lives (up to GC ages), in principle (based on escape velocity arguments), would be able to accrete and retain gas from the surrounding. This poses a severe handicap for the scenarios that try to explain MPs in GC by means of multiple SF event, as there seems to not be any fuel for such further star formation.