Related papers: Detection of IMBHs from microlensing in globular c…
Globular clusters have been alternatively predicted to host intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) or nearly impossible to form and retain them in their centres. Over the last decade enough theoretical and observational evidence have…
We discuss the potential of the gravitational microlensing method as a unique tool to detect unambiguous signals caused by intermediate-mass black holes in globular clusters. We select clusters near the line of sight to the Galactic Bulge…
Recent observations suggest the presence of supermassive black holes at the centers of many galaxies. The existence of intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) in globular clusters has also been predicted. We focus on gravitational lensing as…
It has been assumed that intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) in globular clusters can only reside in the most centrally concentrated clusters, with a so-called `core-collapsed' density profile. While this would be a natural guess, it is…
Mergers of stellar-mass black holes were recently observed in the gravitational wave window opened by LIGO. This puts the spotlight on dense stellar systems and their ability to create intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) through repeated…
We report the results of a study aiming to detect signs of astrometric microlensing caused by an intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH) in the center of globular cluster M 22 (NGC 6656). We used archival data from the Hubble Space Telescope…
The detection of intermediate mass black holes (IMBHs) in Galactic globular clusters (GCs) has so far been controversial. In order to characterize the effectiveness of integrated-light spectroscopy through integral field units, we analyze…
Decades after the first predictions of intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) in globular clusters (GCs) there is still no unambiguous observational evidence for their existence. The most promising signatures for IMBHs are found in the cores…
There have been reports of possible detections of intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) in globular clusters (GCs). Empirically, there exists a tight correlation between the central supermassive black hole (SMBH) mass and the mean velocity…
A new statistical method for pinpointing the massive black hole (BH) in the Galactic Center on the IR grid is presented and applied to astrometric IR observations of stars close to the BH. This is of interest for measuring the IR emission…
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.…
Establishing or ruling out, either through solid mass measurements or upper limits, the presence of intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) at the centers of star clusters would profoundly impact our understanding of problems ranging from the…
Intermediate mass black holes (IMBHs) may be the link between stellar mass holes and the supermassive variety in the nuclei of galaxies, and globular clusters (GCs) may be one of the most promising environments for their formation. Here we…
The formation of supermassive black holes at high redshift still remains a puzzle to astronomers. Their growth becomes reasonable only when starting from a massive seed black hole with mass of the order of 10^2 - 10^5 M_SUN.…
Empirical evidence for both stellar mass black holes M_bh<10^2 M_sun) and supermassive black holes (SMBHs, M_bh>10^5 M_sun) is well established. Moreover, every galaxy with a bulge appears to host a SMBH, whose mass is correlated with the…
We have followed the evolution of multi-mass star clusters containing massive central black holes by N-body simulations on the GRAPE6 computers of Tokyo University. We find a strong cluster expansion and significant structural changes of…
We estimate the rate of gravitational microlensing events of cluster stars due to black holes (BHs) in the globular cluster NGC 5139 ($\omega Cen$). Theory and observations both indicate that $\omega Cen$ may contain thousands of BHs, but…
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…
Intermediate mass black holes (IMBHs) with expected masses M_BH ~ 10^4 M_sun are thought to bridge the gap between stellar mass black holes (M_BH ~ 3 - 100 M_sun) and supermassive black holes found at the centre of galaxies (M_BH > 10^6…
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…