Title: Modelling the Milky Way's globular cluster system,
Abstract: We construct a model for the Galactic globular cluster system based on a
realistic gravitational potential and a distribution function (DF) analytic in
the action integrals. The DF comprises disc and halo components whose
functional forms resemble those recently used to describe the stellar discs and
stellar halo. We determine the posterior distribution of our model parameters
using a Bayesian approach. This gives us an understanding of how well the
globular cluster data constrain our model. The favoured parameter values of the
disc and halo DFs are similar to values previously obtained from fits to the
stellar disc and halo, although the cluster halo system shows clearer rotation
than does the stellar halo. Our model reproduces the generic features of the
globular cluster system, namely the density profile, the mean rotation
velocity. The fraction of disc clusters coincides with the observed fraction of
metal-rich clusters. However, the data indicate either incompatibility between
catalogued cluster distances and current estimates of distance to the Galactic
Centre, or failure to identify clusters behind the bulge. As the data for our
Galaxy's components increase in volume and precision over the next few years,
it will be rewarding to revisit the present analysis.