Tidal heating of globular clusters.

The influence of tidal heating on the evolution of globular clusters (GC's) in circular orbits about the Galactic center is studied. Giant molecular clouds (GMC's) stretch a globular cluster in a direction transverse to its orbit through the disk. The variation in acceleration with height in the disk compresses the cluster in a longitudinal direction. Numerical and analytic calculations of heating and mass loss for GC's, represented by King models, show that disk heating dominates. The authors apply the results to calculate GC evolution prior to core collapse or tidal disruption using a three parameter (energy, mass, and tidal radius) sequence of King models.