R. de Grijs: "From nuclear clusters to halo globulars"

Star clusters as basic building blocks of galaxies. Most of SF is believed to happen in dense clusters. The initial mass function of stars is also believed to depend on the density of the environment.

Young clusters show a power-law distribution while old globulars show a gaussian, how come? He an collaborators did work on intermediate-age clusters in M82 and found a turnover at lower masses. So very many clusters must dissolve on a very short timescale in a very compact region - or the initial distribution was not a power-law.

Review Paper: de Grijs et al 2003 MNRAS 343, 1285
Newer stuff: Ma, de Grijs, et al. 2006