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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

We use our cluster population model, cBHBd, to explore the mass distribution of merging black hole binaries formed dynamically in globular clusters. We include in our models the effect of mass growth through hierarchical mergers and compare…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2023-04-12 Fabio Antonini , Mark Gieles , Fani Dosopoulou , Debatri Chattopadhyay

The gravitational wave event GW190521 involves the merger of two black holes of $\sim 85\text{M}_\odot$ and $\sim 66\text{M}_\odot$ forming an intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH) of mass $\sim 142\text{M}_\odot$. Both progenitors are…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2022-12-14 Oliver Anagnostou , Michele Trenti , Andrew Melatos

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

The predicted rate of binary black hole mergers from galactic fields can vary over several orders of magnitude and is extremely sensitive to the assumptions of stellar evolution. But in dense stellar environments such as globular clusters,…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2015-12-22 Carl L. Rodriguez , Meagan Morscher , Bharath Pattabiraman , Sourav Chatterjee , Carl-Johan Haster , Frederic A. Rasio

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

Globular clusters (GCs) may harbour intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) at their centres. In these dynamically active environments stellar-mass black holes (SBHs) sink to the center soon after formation, due to dynamical friction and…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2019-07-31 Giacomo Fragione , Omer Bromberg

Intermediate mass black holes (IMBHs) in the mass range $10^2-10^5\,\mathrm{M_{\odot}}$ bridge the gap between stellar black holes (BHs) and supermassive BHs. Here, we investigate the possibility that IMBHs form in young star clusters via…

Dense stellar environments like nuclear star clusters (NSCs) can dynamically assemble gravitational wave (GW) sources. We consider a population of single stellar mass black holes (BHs) in the inner $0.1$~pc of a NSC surrounding a $4 \times…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2026-02-10 Amanda Newton , Sanaea C. Rose , Fulya Kıroğlu , Bao-Minh Hoang , Frederic A. Rasio

The dynamical evolution of globular clusters (GCs) is tied to their binary population, as binaries segregate to the cluster centre, leading to an increased binary fraction in the core. This central overabundance of mainly hard binaries can…

The observational dearth of black holes (BHs) with masses between $\sim$100 and 100,000 $M_\odot$ raises questions about the nature of intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs). Proposed formation channels for IMBHs include runaway stellar…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2026-04-08 Lavinia Paiella , Manuel Arca Sedda , Benedetta Mestichelli , Cristiano Ugolini

We study the formation of intermediate-mass ratio inspirals (IMRIs) triggered by the interactions between two stellar black holes (BHs) and an intermediate-mass BH (IMBH) inhabiting the centre of a dense star cluster. We exploit $N$-body…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2021-08-18 Manuel Arca-Sedda , Pau Amaro-Seoane , Xian Chen

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

Although their existence is not yet confirmed observationally, intermediate mass black holes (IMBHs) may play a key role in the dynamics of galactic nuclei. In this paper, we neglect the effect of the nuclear star cluster itself and…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2020-04-15 Barnabás Deme , Yohai Meiron , Bence Kocsis

Recent observations of globular clusters (GCs) provide evidence that the stellar initial mass function (IMF) may not be universal, suggesting specifically that the IMF grows increasingly top-heavy with decreasing metallicity and increasing…

Dense stellar clusters are expected to house the ideal conditions for binary black hole (BBH) formation, both through binary stellar evolution and through dynamical encounters. We use theoretical arguments as well as $N$-body simulations to…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2023-11-21 Jordan Barber , Debatri Chattopadhyay , Fabio Antonini

Theoretical predictions suggest that very massive stars have the potential to form through multiple collisions and eventually evolve into intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) within Population III star clusters embedded in mini dark matter…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2024-09-04 Shuai Liu , Long Wang , Yi-Ming Hu , Ataru Tanikawa , Alessandro A. Trani

Dense star clusters are promising nurseries for the formation and growth of intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs; $\sim 10^2-10^5\,\mathrm{M}_{\odot}$), with increasing observational evidence pointing to their presence in massive star…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2025-10-07 Abbas Askar , Marcelo C. Vergara , Sohaib Ali

Recent theoretical work has solidified the viability of the collisional runaway scenario in young dense star clusters for the formation of very massive stars (VMSs), which may be precursors to intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs). We…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-11-13 M. Atakan Gürkan , John M. Fregeau , Frederic A. Rasio

The dynamical evolution of binaries of intermediate-massive black holes (IMBHs, massive black holes with a mass ranging between $10^2$ and $10^4 M_{\odot}$) in stellar clusters has recently received an increasing amount of attention. This…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2015-05-13 Pau Amaro-Seoane , Christoph Eichhorn , Edward K. Porter , Rainer Spurzem