Tracing the Evolution of Globular Clusters Through their Tidal Tails

Galactic globular clusters evolve within the Milky Way’s gravitational potential. As they orbit the Galaxy, these clusters undergo internal evolution while simultaneously losing stars due to the Galactic tidal field. These escaped stars form extended structures known as tidal tails, which typically consist of two stellar streams: one leading the cluster and one trailing it along its orbit. The stars in these tails have been observed in a few clusters and will be studied in greater detail with future surveys, such as WEAVE, 4MOST, and LSST. This study aims to model the evolution of globular clusters in the presence of multiple stellar populations, using the stars lost at different times to investigate the origin of the anomalous stars found in these systems. To address this, we use high-resolution N-body simulations of a cluster model orbiting in a Milky Way-like potential. To explore the impact of orbital shape on the dynamical evolution of the system, the same cluster is evolved along three different orbital configurations with distinct eccentricities. The simulations cover a total timescale of 12 Gyr and incorporate simplified prescriptions for stellar evolution-driven mass loss, as well as initial conditions based on King models to represent the internal structure of the stellar populations. Particular attention is given to the formation and structure of the tidal tails, their asymmetries, and the population gradients within them. By analyzing the spatial and kinematic distributions of escaped stars, we explore whether differences between first-generation and second-generation stars persist in the tails and how these relate to the cluster's internal segregation and orbital phase. In this way, tidal tails emerge as powerful tools not only to trace the dynamical history of globular clusters but also to provide clues about the formation and evolution of their multiple stellar populations.