The dearth of nuclear star clusters in bright galaxies
  We investigate the interaction of a massive globular cluster (GC) with a
super massive black hole (SMBH), located at the centre of its host galaxy, by
means of direct N-body simulations. The results show that tidal distortions
induced by the stellar background and the SMBH act on a time shorter than that
of dynamical friction decay for a $10^6$ M$_\odot$ GC whenever the SMBH mass
exceeds $\sim 10^8$ M$_\odot$ . This implies an almost complete dissolution of
the infalling GC before it reaches the inner region ($\lesssim 5$ pc) of the
parent galaxy. The generalization of this result to a larger sample of
infalling GCs shows that such destructive process may prevent the formation and
growth of a bright galactic nucleus. Another interesting, serendipitous, result
we obtained is that the close interaction between the SMBH and the GC produces
a "wave" of stars that escape from the cluster and, in a fraction, even from
the whole galaxy.
