Keele Research Repository

Simple single parameter models describing the evolution of globular cluster mass functions (GCMFs) are applied to early type Virgo galaxies. These models assume the dominant form of mass-loss in globular clusters (GCs) is two-body relaxation driven evaporation, and that the cluster initial mass function (CIMF) is described by a Schechter (1976) function. It is concluded that evaporation is primarily responsible for turning a Schechter (1976) CIMF into an evolved GCMF as observed in the Milky Way and other extant galaxies, and an estimate for the corresponding mass-loss rate is made. However, these models do not address the problem of why the GCMF is observed to be the same at all radii, and do not fully recover the shape of the GCMF in the most massive galaxies.