Red giant depletion in globular cluster cores

We investigate the observed depletion of red giants in the cores ofpost-core-collapse globular clusters. In particular, the evolutionaryscenario we consider is a binary consisting of two low-mass stars whichundergoes two common-envelope phases. The first common-envelope phaseoccurs when the primary is a red giant resulting in a helium white dwarfand main-sequence star in a detached binary. The second common-envelopephase occurs shortly after the secondary becomes a red giant. During thesecond common-envelope phase, the degenerate helium cores mergeresulting in a core mass greater than the helium burning limit and theformation of a horizontal branch star. We show that stellar encountersenhance this evolutionary route in post-core-collapse clusters. Theseencounters increase the population of binary secondaries which wouldhave evolved on to the red giant branch in the recent past.