No Evidence for Intermediate-Mass Black Holes in Globular Clusters: Strong Constraints from the JVLA

Abstract

With a goal of searching for accreting intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs), we report the results of ultra-deep Jansky VLA radio continuum observations of the cores of three Galactic globular clusters: M15, M19, and M22. We reach rms noise levels of 1.5-2.1 uJy/beam at an average frequency of 6 GHz. No sources are observed at the center of any of the clusters. For a conservative set of assumptions about the properties of the accretion, we set 3-sigma upper limits on IMBHs from 360-980 M_sun. These limits are among the most stringent obtained for any globular cluster. They add to a growing body of work that suggests either (a) IMBHs ~> 1000 M_sun are rare in globular clusters, or (b) when present, IMBHs accrete in an extraordinarily inefficient manner.

6 pages, 2 figures. ApJL in press

References in corpus (10)

• Gemini and Hubble Space Telescope Evidence for an Intermediate Mass Black Hole in omega Centauri
• HST Proper Motions and Stellar Dynamics in the Core of the Globular Cluster 47 Tucanae
• Near-IR properties of 24 Globular Clusters in the Galactic Bulge
• Density and kinematic cusps in M54 at the heart of the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy: evidence for a 10^4 M_sun Black Hole?
• Star Clusters with Primordial Binaries: III. Dynamical Interaction between Binaries and an Intermediate Mass Black Hole
• Radio Emission from the Intermediate-mass Black Hole in the Globular Cluster G1
• X-rays from the Globular Cluster G1: Intermediate Mass Black Hole or Low Mass X-ray Binary?
• Radio observations of NGC 2808 and other globular clusters: constraints on intermediate mass black holes
• VLA Limits for Intermediate Mass Black Holes in Three Globular Clusters
• IGRJ17361-4441: a possible new accreting X-ray binary in NGC6388

Cited by in corpus (83)

• Coevolution (Or Not) of Supermassive Black Holes and Host Galaxies
• Properties and astrophysical implications of the 150 Msun binary black hole merger GW190521
• Very massive stars, pair-instability supernovae and intermediate-mass black holes with the SEVN code
• Observational evidence for intermediate-mass black holes
• Two stellar-mass black holes in the globular cluster M22
• Unification of the Fundamental Plane and Super-Massive Black Holes Masses
• Mass Measurements of Stellar and Intermediate Mass Black-Holes
• Dynamical evolution of black hole sub-systems in idealised star clusters
• An intermediate-mass black hole in the centre of the globular cluster 47 Tucanae
• Intermediate-mass black holes in dwarf galaxies out to redshift $\sim$ 2.4 in the Chandra COSMOS Legacy Survey
• Relativistic Binaries in Globular Clusters
• Intermediate mass black holes in AGN disks II. Model predictions & observational constraints
• A Radio-Selected Black Hole X-ray Binary Candidate in the Milky Way Globular Cluster M62
• Star count density profiles and structural parameters of 26 Galactic globular clusters
• Deep radio imaging of 47 Tuc identifies the peculiar X-ray source X9 as a new black hole candidate
• A population of intermediate-mass black holes in dwarf starburst galaxies up to redshift=1.5
• The velocity dispersion profile of NGC 6388 from resolved-star spectroscopy: no evidence of a central cusp and new constraints on the black hole mass
• An Overabundance of Black Hole X-Ray Binaries in the Galactic Center from Tidal Captures
• Limits on intermediate-mass black holes in six Galactic globular clusters with integral-field spectroscopy
• The MAVERIC Survey: Still No Evidence for Accreting Intermediate-mass Black Holes in Globular Clusters
• Optical Thermonuclear Transients From Tidal Compression of White Dwarfs as Tracers of the Low End of the Massive Black Hole Mass Function
• Measuring Consistent Masses for 25 Milky Way Globular Clusters
• On the coexistence of stellar-mass and intermediate-mass black holes in globular clusters
• The effect of stellar-mass black holes on the central kinematics of omega Cen: a cautionary tale for IMBH interpretations
• Evidence for an intermediate-mass black hole in the globular cluster NGC 6624
• Intermediate mass black holes from stellar mergers in young star clusters
• No evidence for intermediate-mass black holes in the globular clusters $\omega$ Cen and NGC 6624
• The Close Stellar Companions to Intermediate Mass Black Holes
• The absence of radio emission from the globular cluster G1
• Radial anisotropy in omega Cen limiting the room for an intermediate-mass black hole
• Signature of an Intermediate-Mass Black Hole in the Central Molecular Zone of Our Galaxy
• The M_BH - sigma relation for intermediate-mass black holes in globular clusters
• Old, Metal-Poor Extreme Velocity Stars in the Solar Neighborhood
• The Hunt for Intermediate Mass Black Holes in the JWST Era
• An upper limit to the velocity dispersion of relaxed stellar systems without massive black holes
• Tidal Disruptions of White Dwarfs: Theoretical Models and Observational Prospects
• The first low-mass black hole X-ray binary identified in quiescence outside of a globular cluster
• Predicting Stellar-Mass Black Hole Populations in Globular Clusters
• Calcium-Rich Gap Transients: Tidal Detonations of White Dwarfs?
• Mass models of NGC 6624 without an intermediate-mass black hole
• N-body simulations of globular clusters in tidal fields: Effects of intermediate-mass black holes
• Indication of Another Intermediate-mass Black Hole in the Galactic Center
• Central kinematics of the globular cluster NGC 2808: Upper limit on the mass of an intermediate-mass black hole
• Observational Evidence for a Dark Side to NGC5128's Globular Cluster System
• The central mass and mass-to-light profile of the Galactic globular cluster M15
• On the black hole content and initial mass function of 47 Tuc
• A Deep Chandra X-ray Limit on the Putative IMBH in Omega Centauri
• Implications of the delayed 2013 outburst of the ESO 243-49 HLX-1
• Formation of super-massive black holes in galactic nuclei I: delivering seed intermediate-mass black holes in massive stellar clusters
• The Lunar Gravitational-wave Antenna: Mission Studies and Science Case
• The central dynamics of M3, M13, and M92: Stringent limits on the masses of intermediate-mass black holes
• A re-evaluation of the central velocity-dispersion profile in NGC 6388
• Search for gravitational wave ringdowns from perturbed intermediate mass black holes in LIGO-Virgo data from 2005-2010
• Expected intermediate mass black holes in the Virgo cluster. II. Late-type galaxies
• Did massive black holes in globular clusters initially satisfy galactic scaling relations?
• MOCCA-SURVEY Database I: Is NGC 6535 a Dark Star Cluster Harboring an IMBH?
• No evidence for a central IMBH in M15
• Demonstrating the likely neutron star nature of five M31 globular cluster sources with Swift-NuSTAR spectroscopy
• An Upper Limit on the Mass of a Central Black Hole in the Large Magellanic Cloud from the Stellar Rotation Field
• Understanding the central kinematics of globular clusters with simulated integrated-light IFU observations
• The MAVERIC Survey: Variable Jet-Accretion Coupling in Luminous Accreting Neutron Stars in Galactic Globular Clusters
• MOCCA-SURVEY Database II -- Properties of Intermediate Mass Black Holes escaping from star clusters
• A Very Large Array Search for Intermediate-Mass Black Holes in Globular Clusters in M81
• A Comprehensive Archival Chandra Search for X-ray Emission from Ultracompact Dwarf Galaxies
• A Stacked Search for Intermediate-Mass Black Holes in 337 Extragalactic Star Clusters
• Wandering off the centre: a characterization of the random motion of intermediate-mass black holes in star clusters
• Potential Black Hole Seeding of the Spiral Galaxy NGC 4424 via an Infalling Star Cluster
• Ultra-deep ATCA imaging of 47 Tucanae reveals a central compact radio source
• Discovery of a second outbursting hyperluminous X-ray source
• Intermediate-mass black hole binary parameter estimation with next-generation ground-based detector networks
• Do Intermediate-Mass Black Holes Exist in Globular Clusters?
• The central black hole in the dwarf spheroidal galaxy Leo I Not supermassive, at most an intermediate-mass candidate
• Variability in Ultra-luminous X-ray Sources
• Central X-ray point-sources found to be abundant in low-mass, late-type galaxies predicted to contain an intermediate-mass black hole
• Accessing Intermediate-Mass Black Holes in 728 Globular Star Clusters in NGC\,4472
• A Chandra Survey of Milky Way Globular Clusters. III. Searching for X-ray Signature of Intermediate-mass Black Holes
• Holography, large scale structure, supermassive black holes, and minimum stellar mass
• Synthetic extinction maps around intermediate-mass black holes in Galactic globular clusters
• Intermediate-mass black holes in globular clusters: observations and simulations
• Central MONDian spike in spherically symmetric systems
• Gravitational Microlensing Rates in Milky Way Globular Clusters
• On the nature of the 2.4 hr-period eclipsing cataclysmic variable W2 in 47 Tuc
• Searching for IMBHs in Galactic globular clusters through radial velocities of individual stars