No compelling evidence of significant early star cluster disruption in
  the Large Magellanic Cloud
  Whether or not the rich star cluster population in the Large Magellanic Cloud
(LMC) is affected by significant disruption during the first few x 10^8 yr of
its evolution is an open question and the subject of significant current
debate. Here, we revisit the problem, adopting a homogeneous data set of
broad-band imaging observations. We base our analysis mainly on two sets of
self-consistently determined LMC cluster ages and masses, one using standard
modelling and one which takes into account the effects of stochasticity in the
clusters' stellar mass functions. On their own, the results based on any of the
three complementary analysis approaches applied here are merely indicative of
the physical conditions governing the cluster population. However, the
combination of our results from all three different diagnostics leaves little
room for any conclusion other than that the optically selected LMC star cluster
population exhibits no compelling evidence of significant disruption -- for
clusters with masses, M_cl, of log(M_cl/M_sun) >= 3.0-3.5 -- between the age
ranges of [3-10] Myr and [30-100] Myr, either "infant mortality" or otherwise.
In fact, there is no evidence of any destruction beyond that expected from
simple models just including stellar dynamics and stellar evolution for ages up
to 1 Gyr. It seems, therefore, that the difference in environmental conditions
in the Magellanic Clouds on the one hand and significantly more massive
galaxies on the other may be the key to understanding the apparent variations
in cluster disruption behaviour at early times.
