Two epochs of globular cluster formation from deep field luminosity functions: implications for reionization and the Milky Way satellites

The ages of globular clusters in our own Milky Way are known with precision of about ±1 Gyr, hence their formation history at redshifts z 3 and their role in hierarchical cosmology and the reionization of the intergalactic medium remain relatively undetermined. Here we analyse the effect of globular cluster formation on the observed rest-frame UV luminosity functions (LFs) and UV continuum slopes of high-redshift galaxies in the Hubble Ultra Deep Fields. We find that the majority of present-day globular clusters have formed during two distinct epochs: at redshifts z ∼ 2-3 and at redshifts z 6. The birth of proto-GC systems produces the steep, faint-end slopes of the galaxy LFs and, because the brightness of proto-GCs fades 5 Myr after their formation, their blue colours are in excellent agreement with observations. Our results suggest that: (i) the bulk of the old globular cluster population with estimated ages 12 Gyr (about 50 per cent of the total population) formed in the relatively massive dwarf galaxies at redshifts z 6; (ii) proto-GC formation was an important mode of star formation in those dwarf galaxies, and likely dominated the reionization process. Another consequence of this scenario is that some of the most massive Milky Way satellites may be faint and yet undiscovered because tidal stripping of a dominant GC population precedes significant stripping of the dark matter haloes of these satellites. This scenario may alleviate some remaining tensions between cold dark matter simulations and observations.