Multiple populations in globular clusters

Globular clusters are groups of stars that are  dense (1000s of stars per cubic parsec) and old (~ 10 Gyr), remaining bound against galactic tides for a very long time due to their enormous self-gravity.  The mystery of chemical abundance variations in these groups has persisted since the first discovery in the 1970s. The puzzle of how up to 90% of stars in these environments become enriched has posed a challenging problem to the theory of star formation and stellar evolution for nearly half a century. In this work, we suggest a novel model that may help to unravel this long-standing problem...