Related papers: On black hole sub-systems in idealized nuclear sta…
Regular star formation is thought to be inhibited close to the massive black hole (MBH) in the Galactic center. Nevertheless, tens of young main sequence B stars have been observed in an isotropic distribution close to it. Various models…
Supermassive black holes inhabit galactic nuclei, and their presence influences in crucial ways the evolution of the stellar distribution. The low-density cores observed in bright galaxies are probably a result of black hole infall, while…
The central region of the galaxy Henize 2-10 has a central black hole (BH) with a mass of about $2\times 10^6$ M$_\odot$. While this black hole does not appear to coincide with any central stellar over density, it is surrounded by 11 young…
There is currently much interest in the possible presence of intermediate-mass black holes in the cores of globular clusters. Based on theoretical arguments and simulation results it has previously been suggested that a large core radius --…
The consequences of nuclear black holes for the structure and dynamics of stellar spheroids are reviewed. Slow growth of a black hole in a pre-existing core produces a steep power-law density profile similar to the cusps seen in faint…
Massive black holes (BHs) inhabit local galaxies, including the Milky Way and some dwarf galaxies. BH formation, occurring at early cosmic times, must account for the properties of BHs in today's galaxies, notably why some galaxies host a…
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…
Observations have shown that the majority of massive stars, progenitors of black holes (BHs), have on average more than one stellar companion. In triple systems, wide inner binaries can be driven to a merger by the third body due to…
We present the first results of the \textsc{Dragon-II} simulations, a suite of 19 $N$-body simulations of star clusters with up to $10^6$ stars, with up to $33\%$ of them initially paired in binaries. In this work, we describe the main…
Galaxy mergers are common processes in the Universe. As a large fraction of galaxies hosts at their centres a central supermassive black hole (SMBH), mergers can lead to the formation of a supermassive black hole binary (SMBHB). The…
We present results of simulations aimed at tracing the formation of nuclear star clusters (NCs) and black hole (BH) seeds, in a cosmological context. We focus on two mechanisms for the formation of BHs at high redshifts: as end-products of…
Space-based observations are beginning to yield detailed information about the stellar kinematics at the very centers of galaxies, within the sphere of gravitational influence of the black hole. The structure and dynamics of these regions…
Almost all galaxies along the Hubble sequence host a compact massive object (CMO) in their center. The CMO can be either a supermassive black hole (SMBH) or a very dense stellar cluster, also known as nuclear star cluster (NSC). Generally,…
The massive black hole (MBH) in the Galactic Center and the stars around it form a unique stellar dynamics laboratory for studying how relaxation processes affect the distribution of stars and compact remnants and lead to close interactions…
We present N-body simulations of intermediate-mass (3000-4000 Msun) young star clusters (SCs) with three different metallicities (Z=0.01, 0.1 and 1 Zsun), including metal-dependent stellar evolution recipes and binary evolution. Following…
The recent discovery of two detached black hole-star (BH-star) binaries from Gaia's third data release has sparkled interest in understanding the formation mechanisms of these systems. We investigate the formation of these systems by…
We have recently written a new code to simulate the long term evolution of spherical clusters of stars. It is based on the pioneering Monte Carlo scheme proposed by Henon in the 70's. Our code has been devised in the specific goal to treat…
Eccentric mergers are a signature of the dynamical formation channel of binary black holes (BBHs) in dense stellar environments and hierarchical triple systems. Here, we investigate the formation of eccentric mergers via binary-single…
Nuclear star clusters are among the densest stellar systems known and are common in both early- and late-type galaxies. They exhibit scaling relations with their host galaxy which may be related to those of supermassive black holes. These…
Making use of a new N-body model to describe the evolution of a moderate-size globular cluster we investigate the characteristics of the population of black holes within such a cluster. This model reaches core-collapse and achieves a peak…