Globular clusters in the galaxy and in the Large Magellanic Cloud

Several properties of globular clusters in the Milky Way and in the Large Magellanic Cloud that may be relevant to theories of the origin and structure of galaxies are examined. New quantitative methods are developed in order to analyse the flattening and radial density profile of the Galactic globular cluster population and their dependence on metallicity. Together with an assessment of the size of observational errors in the distance modulus data, the inferred structural parameters of the cluster system lead to an estimate of the distance of the Galactic Centre. A general method for testing kinematical models of the globular cluster system against observational data is then introduced. It leads to significant constraints in the nature of the streaming and random pressure motions of the system. In the final chapter, methods for estimating the flattening of individual clusters using star counts and photographic plates are developed and applied to a sample of globular clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud and in the Milky Way. A systematic variation of flattening with age is found, young clusters being stochastically flatter than older ones. This difference is interpreted as the result of a loss of angular momentum produced by relaxation processes in star clusters. (author)