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The internal dynamics of globular clusters (GCs) is strongly affected bytwo-body interactions that bring the systems to a state of partial energyequipartition. Using a set of Monte Carlo clusters simulations, we investigatethe role of the onset of energy equipartition in shaping the mass-to-lightratio (M/L) in GCs. Our simulations show that the M/L profiles cannot beconsidered constant and their specific shape strongly depends on the dynamicalage of the clusters. Dynamically younger clusters display a central peak up toM/L $\simeq25$ $M_\odot/L_\odot$ caused by the retention of dark remnants; thispeak flattens out for dynamically older clusters. Moreover, we find that alsothe global values of M/L correlate with the dynamical state of a clusterquantified as either the number of relaxation times a system has experienced$n_{rel}$ or the equipartition parameter $m_{eq}$: clusters closer to fullequipartition (higher $n_{rel}$ or lower $m_{eq}$) display a lower M/L. We showthat the decrease of M/L is primarily driven by the dynamical ejection of darkremnants, rather than by the escape of low-mass stars. The predictions of ourmodels are in good agreement with observations of GCs in the Milky Way and M31,indicating that differences in relaxation state alone can explain variations ofM/L up to a factor of $\simeq3$. Our characterization of the M/L as a functionof relaxation state is of primary relevance for the application andinterpretation of dynamical models.

The relation between the mass-to-light ratio and the relaxation state of globular clusters