Investigating mass segregation process in globular clusters with Blue Straggler Stars: the impact of dark remnants

Abstract

We present the results of a set of N-body simulations aimed at exploring how the process of mass segregation (as traced by the spatial distribution of blue straggler stars, BSSs) is affected by the presence of a population of heavy dark remnants (as neutron stars and black holes). To this end, clusters characterized by different initial concentrations and different fractions of dark remnants have been modeled. We find that an increasing fraction of stellar-mass black holes significantly delays the mass segregation of BSSs and the visible stellar component. In order to trace the evolution of BSS segregation, we introduce a new parameter ($A^{+}$) that can be easily measured when the cumulative radial distribution of these stars and a reference population are available. Our simulations show that $A^{+}$ might also be used as an approximate indicator of the time remaining to the core collapse of the visible component.

ApJ accepted

References in corpus (17)

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• The Blue Straggler Population of the Globular Cluster M5
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Cited by in corpus (15)

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• A kinematic view of NGC 1261: structural parameters, internal dispersion, absolute proper motion and Blue Straggler Stars
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• Star density profiles of six old star clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud
• Discovery of a double Blue Straggler sequence in M15: new insight into the core-collapse process
• Spectral Energy Distribution of Blue Stragglers in the core of 47 Tucanae
• Modelling the Observed Stellar Mass Function and its Radial Variation in Galactic Globular Clusters
• Blue Stragglers as tracers of the dynamical state of two clusters in the Small Magellanic Cloud: NGC 339 and NGC 419
• Correlation Between Mass Segregation and Structural Concentration in Relaxed Stellar Clusters
• The evolution of kicked stellar-mass black holes in star cluster environments II. Rotating star clusters
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• Taking apart the dynamical clock. Fat-tailed dynamical kicks shape the blue-straggler star bimodality