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In galactic centers, stars and binaries can be injected into low-angular-momentum orbits, resulting in close encounters with the central supermassive black hole (SMBH). Previous works have shown that under different conditions, such close…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2024-12-20 Fangyuan Yu , Dong Lai

Intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) could form via runaway merging of massive stars in a young massive star cluster (YMC). We combine a suite of numerical simulations of YMC formation with a semi-analytic model for dynamical friction and…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2021-05-27 Yanlong Shi , Michael Y. Grudić , Philip F. Hopkins

We present the methods and preparatory work for our study of the collisional runaway scenario to form a very massive star (VMS, M > 400 Msun) at the centre of a young, compact stellar cluster. In the first phase of the process, a very dense…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-11-10 Marc Freitag , Frederic A. Rasio , Holger Baumgardt

Observations suggest that star clusters often form in binaries or larger bound groups. Therefore, mergers between two clusters are likely to occur. If these clusters both harbor an intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH; 10^{2-4} Msun) in their…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-11-11 Pau Amaro-Seoane , Marc Freitag

The runaway merger scenario is one of the most promising mechanisms to explain the formation of intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) in young dense star clusters (SCs). On the other hand, the massive stars that participate in the runaway…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2016-06-13 Michela Mapelli

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 stellar dynamics of the first star clusters after intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) are formed via runaway stellar collisions. We use the outputs of cosmological simulations of Sakurai et al. (2017) to follow the star…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2019-01-31 Yuya Sakurai , Naoki Yoshida , Michiko S. Fujii

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

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

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

Most stars form in dense stellar environments. It is speculated that some dense star clusters may host intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs), which may have formed from runaway collisions between high-mass stars, or from the mergers of less…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2020-08-26 Francesco Flammini Dotti , M. B. N. Kouwenhoven , Qi Shu , Wei Hao , Rainer Spurzem

Using Monte Carlo codes, we follow the collisional evolution of clusters in a variety of scenarios. We consider the conditions under which a cluster of main sequence stars may undergo rapid core collapse due to mass segregation, thus…

Astrophysics · Physics 2011-12-13 Marc Freitag , M. Atakan Gürkan , Frederic A. Rasio

Observations of stellar kinematics, gas dynamics and masers around galactic nuclei have now firmly established that many galaxies host central supermassive black holes (SMBHs) with masses in the range $10^6 \sim 10^9$M$_{\odot}$. However,…

Current theoretical models predict a mass gap with a dearth of stellar black holes (BHs) between roughly $50\,M_\odot$ and $100\,M_\odot$, while, above the range accessible through massive star evolution, intermediate-mass BHs (IMBHs) still…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2022-03-30 Giacomo Fragione , Bence Kocsis , Frederic A. Rasio , Joseph Silk

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

Star clusters can interact and merge in galactic discs, halos, or centers. We present direct N-body simulations of binary mergers of star clusters with $M_{\star} = 2.7 \times 10^4 \: \mathrm{M_{\odot}}$ each, using the N-body code BIFROST…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2025-03-18 Lazaros Souvaitzis , Antti Rantala , Thorsten Naab

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

The study of stellar-remnant black holes (BH) in dense stellar clusters is now in the spotlight, especially due to their intrinsic ability to form binary black holes (BBH) through dynamical encounters, that potentially coalesce via…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2017-11-08 Sambaran Banerjee

We review possible dynamical formation processes for central massive black holes in dense star clusters. We focus on the early dynamical evolution of young clusters containing a few thousand to a few million stars. One natural formation…

Astrophysics · Physics 2007-05-23 Frederic A. Rasio , Marc Freitag , M. Atakan Gürkan

Young massive clusters (YMCs) provide favorable environments for frequent stellar collisions, potentially leading to the formation of very massive stars (VMSs) and seeds of intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs). We investigate the role of…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2026-02-23 Benedetta Mestichelli , Sara Rastello , Michela Mapelli , Manuel Arca Sedda , Marica Branchesi