TIDAL EVOLUTION OF GLOBULAR-CLUSTERS .1. METHOD

Tidal evolution of globular clusters is regulated by both Galactic tidal effects and internal relaxation processes. In order to investigate the tidal evolution of globular clusters, we have developed a numerical scheme which utilizes a Fokker-Planck approach as well as direct numerical integration of the restricted three-body problem. In the inner regions of the cluster, stellar orbits are mapped with the cluster's gravitational potential and orbit-averaged diffusion coefficients. In the outer regions, the Galactic tidal field is explicitly included in the direct orbital integration. This method is presented here with some tests on King-Michie models.