The presence of intermediate-mass black holes in globular clusters and their connection with extreme horizontal branch stars

Abstract

By means of a multimass isotropic and spherical model that includes the self-consistent treatment of a central intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH), the influence of this black hole on the morphological and physical properties of globular clusters is investigated. In agreement with recent numerical studies, it is found that a cluster (with mass M) hosting an IMBH (with mass M_BH) shows, outside the region of gravitational influence of the black hole, a core-like profile resembling a King profile with concentration c < 2, although with a slightly steeper behaviour in the core region. In particular, the core logarithmic slope is s < 0.25 for reasonably low IMBH masses (M_BH < M/100), and c decreases monotonically with M_BH. Completely power-law density profiles (similar to, for example, those of collapsed clusters) are admitted only in the presence of a black hole with an unrealistic M_BH > M. The mass range estimate 12s - 4.8 < log (M_BH/M)< -1.1c - 0.69, depending on the morphological parameters, is deduced by considering a wide range of models. Applying this estimate to a set of 39 globular clusters, it is found that NGC 2808, NGC 6388, M80, M13, M62, M54 and G1 (in M31) probably host an IMBH. For them, the scaling laws M_BH ~ 0.09(M/M_sol)^{0.7} M_sol and M_BH ~ 50[sigma/ (km s^-1)]^{1.2} M_sol are identified from weighted least-squares fits. An important result of this 'collective' study is that a strong correlation exists between the presence of an extreme blue horizontal branch and the presence of an IMBH. In particular, the presence of a central IMBH in M13 and NGC 6388 could explain why these clusters possess extreme horizontal-branch stars, in contrast to their 'second parameter' counterparts M3 and 47 Tuc.

arXiv commentLaTeX, 15 pages, 8 figures, 4 tables included. Final version with new G1 data. Accepted for publication on MNRAS. The definitive version is available at www.blackwell-synergy.com

References in corpus (53)

• A Fundamental Relation Between Supermassive Black Holes and Their Host Galaxies
• The Demography of Massive Dark Objects in Galaxy Centres
• A Relationship Between Nuclear Black Hole Mass and Galaxy Velocity Dispersion
• The slope of the black-hole mass versus velocity dispersion correlation
• Massive Black Holes as Population III Remnants
• Supermassive Black Holes in Galactic Nuclei: Past, Present and Future Research
• The formation of massive black holes through collision runaway in dense young star clusters
• A Triple Main Sequence in the Globular Cluster NGC 2808
• The ACS Virgo Cluster Survey. VIII. The Nuclei of Early-Type Galaxies
• Internal Dynamics of Globular Clusters
• Formation of Massive Black Holes in Dense Star Clusters. I. Mass Segregation and Core Collapse
• X-ray source populations in galaxies
• A helium spread among the main sequence stars in NGC 2808
• Stellar Processes Near the Massive Black Hole in the Galactic Center
• The dynamical distance and intrinsic structure of the globular cluster omega Centauri
• An Intermediate-Mass Black Hole in the Globular Cluster G1: Improved Significance from New Keck and Hubble Space Telescope Observations
• HST color-magnitude diagrams of 74 galactic globular clusters in the HST F439W and F555W bands
• Hubble Space Telescope Evidence for an Intermediate-Mass Black Hole in the Globular Cluster M15: II. Kinematical Analysis and Dynamical Modeling
• Discovery of Extended Blue Horizontal Branches in Two Metal-Rich Globular Clusters
• Runaway collisions in young star clusters. II. Numerical results
• The effect of mass-segregation on gravitational wave sources near massive black holes
• Stellar remnants in galactic nuclei: mass segregation
• Mayall II = G1 in M31: Giant Globular Cluster or Core of a Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy ?
• The Properties of Poor Groups of Galaxies: III. The Galaxy Luminosity Function
• Massive Black Holes in Star Clusters. II. Realistic Cluster Models
• From Supermassive Black Holes to Dwarf Elliptical Nuclei: a Mass Continuum
• HST Proper Motions and Stellar Dynamics in the Core of the Globular Cluster 47 Tucanae
• A Dynamical Model for the Globular Cluster G1
• On the central structure of M15
• Surface Brightness Profiles of Galactic Globular Clusters from Hubble Space Telescope Images
• Which Globular Clusters contain Intermediate-mass Black Holes?
• The dynamical M/L-profile and distance of the globular cluster M15
• Massive Black Holes in Star Clusters. I. Equal-mass clusters
• The distribution of stars near the super-massive black hole in the Galactic Center
• A new Monte Carlo code for star cluster simulations: II. Central black hole and stellar collisions
• Multivariate Analysis of Globular Cluster's Horizontal Branch Morphology: searching for the second parameter
• Addendum: "Hubble Space Telescope Evidence for an Intermediate-Mass Black Hole in the Globular Cluster M15: II. Kinematical Analysis and Dynamical Modeling"
• Hot Stars in Globular Cluster - A Spectroscopist's View
• HST/WFPC2 Color-Magnitude Diagrams for Globular Clusters in M31
• Star Clusters with Primordial Binaries: III. Dynamical Interaction between Binaries and an Intermediate Mass Black Hole
• N-Body Growth of a Bahcall-Wolf Cusp Around a Black Hole
• Horizontal branch morphology in galactic globular clusters: dense environment is "a" second parameter
• Accretion of stars on to a massive black hole: A realistic diffusion model and numerical studies
• Tidal Capture of Stars by Intermediate-Mass Black Holes
• The Helium White Dwarf orbiting the Millisecond Pulsar in the halo of the Globular Cluster NGC 6752
• On the observational properties of He-burning stars: some clues on the tilt of the HB in metal rich clusters
• DYNAMICS OF THE GALACTIC GLOBULAR CLUSTER NGC 3201
• Absolute motions of globular clusters. II. [HST astrometry and VLT radial velocities in NGC6397]
• Discovery of Blue Hook Stars in the Massive Globular Cluster M54
• Structural Parameters of Mayall II = G1 in M31
• Deep HST Photometry of NGC 6388: Age and Horizontal Branch Luminosity
• Central energy equipartition in multi-mass models of globular clusters
• Blue Horizontal Branch Stars in Old, Metal-Rich Stellar Systems

Cited by in corpus (47)

• Null geodesics and shadow of a rotating black hole in extended Chern-Simons modified gravity
• Two stellar-mass black holes in the globular cluster M22
• Star count density profiles and structural parameters of 26 Galactic globular clusters
• 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
• Kinematic signature of an intermediate-mass black hole in the globular cluster NGC 6388
• Double Blue Straggler sequences in GCs: the case of NGC 362
• Gas expulsion in massive star clusters? Constraints from observations of young and gas-free objects
• Density and kinematic cusps in M54 at the heart of the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy: evidence for a 10^4 M_sun Black Hole?
• A stellar-mass black hole population in the globular cluster NGC 6101?
• Tidal disruption, global mass function and structural parameters evolution in star clusters
• Blue Straggler Stars in the Unusual Globular Cluster NGC 6388
• MIKiS: the Multi-Instrument Kinematic Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters. I. Velocity dispersion profiles and rotation signals of 11 globular clusters
• Modeling the Retention Probability of Black Holes in Globular Clusters: Kicks and Rates
• Tidal breakup of binary stars at the Galactic Center. II. Hydrodynamic simulations
• Radio observations of NGC 2808 and other globular clusters: constraints on intermediate mass black holes
• Monte Carlo Simulations of Globular Cluster Evolution. VI. The Influence of an Intermediate Mass Black Hole
• Merging stellar and intermediate-mass black holes in dense clusters: implications for LIGO, LISA and the next generation of gravitational wave detectors
• Central kinematics of the globular cluster NGC 2808: Upper limit on the mass of an intermediate-mass black hole
• Multiwavelength photometry in the Globular Cluster M2
• Intermediate-Mass Black Holes in Early Globular Clusters
• The central dynamics of M3, M13, and M92: Stringent limits on the masses of intermediate-mass black holes
• A lack of close binaries among hot horizontal branch stars in globular clusters. II. NGC\,2808
• A lack of close binaries among hot horizontal branch stars in globular clusters - M80 and NGC5986
• Is a binary fraction-age relation responsible for the lack of EHB binaries in globular clusters?
• Widespread presence of shallow cusps in the surface-brightness profile of globular clusters
• X-ray Binaries in the Ultrahigh Encounter Rate Globular Cluster NGC 6388
• Combined Chandra, XMM-Newton and Hubble Space Telescope observations of the Galactic globular cluster NGC 2808
• Radio observations of NGC 6388: an upper limit on the mass of its central black hole
• Dark matter and dark energy accretion onto intermediate-mass black holes
• A mass estimate of an intermediate-mass black hole in omega Centauri
• Radial velocities from VLT-KMOS spectra of giant stars in the globular cluster NGC 6388
• Intermediate-Mass Black Holes in binary-rich star clusters
• The luminosity function of quasars by the Principle of Maximum Entropy
• Formation of the Galactic globular clusters with He-rich stars in low-mass halos virialized at high redshift
• SHOTGLAS II. MUSE spectroscopy of blue horizontal branch stars in the core of $\omega$ Centauri and NGC 6752
• Constraining Intermediate-Mass Black Holes in Globular Clusters
• An XMM-Newton search for X-ray sources in the Fornax dwarf galaxy
• Global oscillations of a fluid torus as a modulation mechanism for black-hole high-frequency QPOs
• Extrapolating SMBH correlations down the mass scale: the case for IMBHs in globular clusters
• Detection of IMBHs from microlensing in globular clusters
• Numerical estimates of the accretion rate onto intermediate-mass black holes
• Brownian dynamics around the core of self-gravitating systems
• Synthetic extinction maps around intermediate-mass black holes in Galactic globular clusters
• HST's hunt for intermediate-mass black holes in star clusters
• Detection of IMBHs from microlensing in globular clusters
• Investigations on the optical properties and X-ray emission in compact radio AGN
• Searching for IMBHs in Galactic globular clusters through radial velocities of individual stars