Extrapolating SMBH correlations down the mass scale: the case for IMBHs in globular clusters

Abstract

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 bulge mass, and even more strongly with the central stellar velocity dispersion sigma_c, the `M-sigma' relation. On the other hand, evidence for "intermediate-mass" black holes (IMBHs, with masses in the range 1^2 - 10^5 M_sun) is relatively sparse, with only a few mass measurements reported in globular clusters (GCs), dwarf galaxies and low-mass AGNs. We explore the question of whether globular clusters extend the M-sigma relationship for galaxies to lower black hole masses and find that available data for globular clusters are consistent with the extrapolation of this relationship. We use this extrapolated M-sigma relationship to predict the putative black hole masses of those globular clusters where existence of central IMBH was proposed. We discuss how globular clusters can be used as a constraint on theories making specific predictions for the low-mass end of the M-sigma relation.

14 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Astrophysics and Space Science; fixed typos and a quote in Sec. 3

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• No WIMP Mini-Spikes in Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxies
• Central kinematics of the Galactic globular cluster M80
• Variables in Globular Cluster NGC 5024
• Proper Motions and Internal Dynamics in the Core of the Globular Cluster M71