English
Related papers

Related papers: Do Intermediate-Mass Black Holes Exist in Globular…

200 papers

Observational evidence has been mounting for the existence of intermediate mass black holes (IMBHs, 10^2-10^5 Msun), but observing them at all, much less constraining their masses, is very challenging. In one theorized formation channel,…

The presence or absence of intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) at the centre of Milky Way globular clusters (GCs) is still an open question. This is either due to observational restrictions or limitations in the dynamical modelling…

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

In many theoretical scenarios it is expected that intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs, with masses M ~ 100-10000 solar masses) reside at the centers of some globular clusters. However, observational evidence for their existence is limited.…

Theoretical models predict that intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) exist in globular clusters (GCs), but observational evidence remains elusive. Millisecond pulsars (MSPs), which are abundant in GCs and have served as precise probes for…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2025-07-15 Xian Chen , Verónica Vázquez-Aceves , Siyuan Chen , Kejia Lee , Yanjun Guo , Kuo Liu

In this paper we explore the interplay between intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) and their nursing globular clusters (GCs), taking advantage of over 2000 Monte Carlo GC models. We find that the average density of IMBHs sphere of…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2019-05-06 Manuel Arca Sedda , Abbas Askar , Mirek Giersz

Intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) by definition have masses of $M_{\rm IMBH} \sim 10^{2-5}~M_\odot$, a range with few observational constraints. Finding IMBHs in globular star clusters (GCs) would validate a formation channel for…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2021-09-08 J. M. Wrobel , T. J. Maccarone , J. C. A. Miller-Jones , K. E. Nyland

Intermediate mass black holes (IMBHs) are an (as yet) elusive class of black holes that are expected to lie in the $10^2-10^5\,M_{\odot}$ range, between the firmly established stellar-mass black holes and ${\gtrsim}10^6\,M_{\odot}$…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2018-05-16 Filippos Koliopanos

By means of a multimass isotropic and spherical model that includes the self-consistent treatment of a central intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH), the influence of this black hole on the morphological and physical properties of globular…

Astrophysics · Physics 2008-11-26 P. Miocchi

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

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

We present a systematic analysis on the possible presence of dark mass components inside globular clusters (GCs). A spherical Jeans analysis is applied to the stellar kinematics of 9 nearby GCs. On top of the mass distribution provided by…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2023-07-07 Javier Reynoso-Cordova , Marco Regis , Marco Taoso

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

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

Recently, an intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH) candidate was announced in the Galactic globular cluster Omega Centauri. IMBHs at the lower end of the traditional mass range have also been detected through gravitational-wave transients,…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2026-03-02 Miguel A. S. Martinez , Elena González Prieto , Frederic A. Rasio

Black holes are fascinating objects. As a class of solutions to the Einstein equations they have been studied a great deal, yielding a wealth of theoretical results. But do they really exist? What do astronomers really mean when they claim…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2010-08-27 Mario Pasquato

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) may provide the missing link to understanding the growth of supermassive black holes in the early Universe. Some formation scenarios predict that IMBHs could have formed by runaway collisions in…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2015-06-17 Nora Lützgendorf , Holger Baumgardt , J. M. Diederik Kruijssen

Theoretical models suggest that intermediate mass black holes (IMBHs) may form and reside in the centers of globular clusters. IMBHs are still elusive to observations, but the accelerations of pulsars may bring along a unique fingerprint of…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2019-10-16 Federico Abbate , Andrea Possenti , Monica Colpi , Mario Spera

Finding an intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH) in a globular cluster (GC), or proving its absence, is a crucial ingredient in our understanding of galaxy formation and evolution. The challenge is to identify a unique signature of an IMBH…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2017-08-23 Alice Zocchi , Mark Gieles , Vincent Hénault-Brunet