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Related papers: Intermediate-Mass Black Holes in Globular Clusters

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Contrary to supermassive and stellar-mass black holes (SBHs), the existence of intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) with masses ranging between 10^{2-5} Msun has not yet been confirmed. The main problem in the detection is that the…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2015-05-30 Symeon Konstantinidis , Pau Amaro-Seoane , Kostas D. Kokkotas

Empirical evidence for both stellar mass black holes M_bh<10^2 M_sun) and supermassive black holes (SMBHs, M_bh>10^5 M_sun) is well established. Moreover, every galaxy with a bulge appears to host a SMBH, whose mass is correlated with the…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2014-11-20 Margarita Safonova , Prajval Shastri

In this paper, we address the question: What is the probability of stellar-mass black hole (BH) binaries co-existing in a globular cluster with an intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH)? Our results suggest that the detection of one or more BH…

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics · Physics 2015-06-22 Nathan W. C. Leigh , Nora Luetzgendorf , Aaron M. Geller , Thomas J. Maccarone , Craig O. Heinke , Alberto Sesana

Elliptical, lenticular, and early-type spiral galaxies show a remarkably tight power-law correlation between the mass M_BH of their central supermassive black hole (SMBH) and the number N_GC of globular clusters: M_BH=m*N_GC^(1.08+/-0.04)…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2015-05-18 Andreas Burkert , Scott Tremaine

We propose a new formation channel for intermediate mass black hole (IMBH) binaries via globular cluster collisions in the Galactic disc. Using numerical simulations, we show that the IMBHs form a tight binary that enters the gravitational…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2019-06-17 Manuel Arca Sedda , Alessandra Mastrobuono-Battisti

There is both theoretical expectation and some observational clues that intermediate mass black holes reside in nuclei of globular clusters. In order to find an independent indicator for their existence, we investigate in this paper how an…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2019-01-18 L. Subr , G. Fragione , J. Dabringhausen

The recent discovery of gravitational waves has opened new horizons for physics. Current and upcoming missions, such as LIGO, VIRGO, KAGRA, and LISA, promise to shed light on black holes of every size from stellar mass (SBH) sizes up to…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2018-04-11 Giacomo Fragione , Idan Ginsburg , Bence Kocsis

Intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) occupy the $ 10^2 - 10^5\,M_\odot $ range, but their existence remains poorly constrained. Only a few candidates have been suggested in dwarf galaxies, globular clusters, and LIGO-Virgo-Kagra…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2025-10-10 Cristiano Ugolini

A number of observations hints for the presence of an intermediate mass black hole (IMBH) in the core of three globular clusters: M15 and NGC 6752 in the Milky Way, and G1, in M31. However the existence of these IMBHs is far form being…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-11-11 M. Colpi , B. Devecchi , M. Mapelli , A. Patruno , A. Possenti

We have developed a new method for post-Newtonian, high-precision integration of stellar systems containing a super-massive black hole (SMBH), splitting the forces on a particle between a dominant central force and perturbations. We used…

Astrophysics · Physics 2008-04-11 Ulf Löckmann , Holger Baumgardt

Intermediate mass black holes (IMBHs) may be the link between stellar mass holes and the supermassive variety in the nuclei of galaxies, and globular clusters (GCs) may be one of the most promising environments for their formation. Here we…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2023-12-20 Vivian L. Tang , Piero Madau , Elisa Bortolas , Eric W. Peng

The formation of supermassive black holes at high redshift still remains a puzzle to astronomers. Their growth becomes reasonable only when starting from a massive seed black hole with mass of the order of 10^2 - 10^5 M_SUN.…

We have followed the evolution of multi-mass star clusters containing massive central black holes by N-body simulations on the GRAPE6 computers of Tokyo University. We find a strong cluster expansion and significant structural changes of…

Establishing or ruling out, either through solid mass measurements or upper limits, the presence of intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) at the centers of star clusters would profoundly impact our understanding of problems ranging from the…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2015-05-14 Julio Chanamé , Justice Bruursema , Rupali Chandar , Jay Anderson , Roeland van der Marel , Holland Ford

Most stellar evolution models predict that black holes (BHs) should not exist above approximately $50-70$ M$_\odot$, the lower limit of the pair-instability mass gap. However, recent LIGO/Virgo detections indicate the existence of BHs with…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2022-07-07 Sanaea C. Rose , Smadar Naoz , Re'em Sari , Itai Linial

The recent detection of fast-moving stars in the core of Omega Centauri ($\omega$ Cen), the most massive globular cluster (GC) in the Milky Way, has provided strong evidence for the presence of an intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH). As…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2025-08-22 Elena González Prieto , Carl L. Rodriguez , Tomás Cabrera

Black holes (BHs) with masses between 100 to 100,000 times the mass of the Sun ($\rm{M}_{\odot}$) are classified as intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs), potentially representing a crucial link between stellar-mass and supermassive BHs.…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2024-02-29 Abbas Askar , Vivienne F. Baldassare , Mar Mezcua

Here we investigate the possibility that some globular clusters (GCs) harbor intermediate mass black holes (BH) in their centers and are also embedded in a low-mass dark matter (DM) halo. Up to date, there is no evidence on whether or not…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2020-08-19 Elaine C. F. S. Fortes , Oswaldo D. Miranda , Floyd W. Stecker , Carlos A. Wuensche

Spectroscopic and photometric observations show that many globular clusters host multiple stellar populations, challenging the common paradigm that globular clusters are "simple stellar populations" composed of stars of uniform age and…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2015-05-18 Enrico Vesperini , Stephen L. W. McMillan , Annibale D'Ercole , Francesca D'Antona

Evidence has been mounting for the existence of black holes with masses from 10^2 to 10^4 M_Solar associated with stellar clusters. Such intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) will encounter other black holes in the dense cores of these…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-11-07 Kayhan Gultekin , M. Coleman Miller , Douglas P. Hamilton