Related papers: Stellar Dynamics and Stellar Phenomena Near A Mass…
The past 10 years have witnessed a change of perspective in the way astrophysicists think about massive black holes (MBHs), which are now considered to have a major role in the evolution of galaxies. This appreciation was driven by the…
We have developed a new numerical code to simulate the joint evolution of a massive black hole (MBH) and a surrounding stellar cluster at the center of a galaxy. The physics treated in the simulations include: 2-body relaxation, stellar…
Massive black holes are key inhabitants of the nuclei of galaxies. Moreover, their astrophysical relevance has gained significant traction in recent years, thanks especially to the amazing results that are being (or will be) delivered by…
It is now well-established that a dark, compact object (DCO), very likely a massive black hole (MBH) of around four million solar masses is lurking at the centre of the Milky Way. While a consensus is emerging about the origin and growth of…
The central regions of galaxies show the presence of massive black holes and/or dense stellar systems. The question about their modes of formation is still under debate. A likely explanation of the formation of the central dense stellar…
Supermassive black holes (SMBHs) have been found to be ubiquitous in the nuclei of early-type galaxies and of bulges of spirals. There are evidences of a tight correlation between the SMBH masses, the velocity dispersions of stars in the…
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…
A massive black hole (MBH) consumes stars whose orbits evolve into the small phase-space volume of unstable orbits, the "loss-cone", which take them directly into the MBH, or close enough to interact strongly with it. The resulting…
Motivated by observational searches for massive black hole (MBH) pairs at kiloparsec separations we develop a semi-analytic model to describe their orbital evolution under the influence of stellar and gaseous dynamical friction (DF). The…
The dynamical evidence for black holes (BHs) in galactic nuclei is reviewed, with emphasis on recent improvements in spatial resolution, methods for analyzing galaxy spectra and dynamical modeling. M31, M32 and M87 are discussed in some…
The dynamical processes involving stellar-remnant black holes (BH) in stellar clusters has always drawn attention due to the BHs' potential in a number of astrophysical phenomena, especially the dynamical formation of binary black holes…
Supermassive black holes are found in most galactic nuclei. A large fraction of these nuclei also contain a nuclear stellar cluster surrounding the black hole. Here we consider the idea that the nuclear stellar cluster formed first and that…
Galactic nuclei host central massive objects either in the form of supermassive black holes or nuclear stellar clusters. Recent investigations have shown that both components co-exist in at least a few galaxies. In this paper we explore the…
Understanding the formation and evolution of stellar-mass binary black holes (BBHs) requires a thorough investigation of the key physical processes involved. While one pathway involves the isolated evolution of massive binary stars,…
In the last decade, a combination of high sensitivity, high spatial resolution observations and of coordinated multi-wavelength surveys has revolutionized our view of extra-galactic black hole (BH) astrophysics. We now know that…
Dense star clusters are spectacular self-gravitating stellar systems in our Galaxy and across the Universe - in many respects. They populate disks and spheroids of galaxies as well as almost every galactic center. In massive elliptical…
Close tidal interactions of stars with a central massive black hole (MBH) or with other stars in the high density cusp around it can affect a significant fraction of the stellar population within the MBH radius of influence. We consider…
The centers of galaxies host a supermassive black hole surrounded by a dense stellar cluster. The cluster is expected to develop mass segregation, in which gravitational scatterings among the stars cause heavier objects to sink closer to…
The presence of young massive stars orbiting on eccentric rings within a few tenths of a parsec of the supermassive black hole in the Galactic centre is challenging for theories of star formation. The high tidal shear from the black hole…
Beyond all reasonable doubt, black holes are commonly found in the nuclei of most normal galaxies. In recent years, dynamical measurements of hole masses have transformed the study of their functioning and evolution. In particular, relating…