MONTE CARLO SIMULATIONS OF GLOBULAR CLUSTER EVOLUTION. VI. THE INFLUENCE OF AN INTERMEDIATE-MASS BLACK HOLE

Journal Article · Tue May 01 04:00:00 EDT 2012 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/750/1/31· OSTI ID:22034619

Umbreit, Stefan; Rasio, Frederic A ^[1]; Fregeau, John M ^[2]; Chatterjee, Sourav ^[3]

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1. Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA) and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Rd., Evanston, IL 60208 (United States)
2. Kavli Institute of Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 (United States)
3. Department of Astronomy, University of Florida, 211 Bryant Space Science Center, Gainesville, FL (United States)

We present results from a series of Monte Carlo (MC) simulations investigating the imprint of a central intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH) on the structure of a globular cluster. We investigate the three-dimensional and projected density profiles, and stellar disruption rates for idealized as well as realistic cluster models, taking into account a stellar mass spectrum and stellar evolution, and allowing for a larger, more realistic number of stars than was previously possible with direct N-body methods. We compare our results to other N-body and Fokker-Planck simulations published previously. We find, in general, very good agreement for the overall cluster structure and dynamical evolution between direct N-body simulations and our MC simulations. Significant differences exist in the number of stars that are tidally disrupted by the IMBH, and this is most likely caused by the wandering motion of the IMBH, not included in the MC scheme. These differences, however, are negligible for the final IMBH masses in realistic cluster models, as the disruption rates are generally much lower than for single-mass clusters. As a direct comparison to observations we construct a detailed model for the cluster NGC 5694, which is known to possess a central surface brightness cusp consistent with the presence of an IMBH. We find that not only the inner slope but also the outer part of the surface brightness profile agree well with observations. However, there is only a slight preference for models harboring an IMBH compared to models without.

• OSTI ID: 22034619
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 750; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
ASTROPHYSICS
BLACK HOLES
BRIGHTNESS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
DENSITY
FOKKER-PLANCK EQUATION
MASS
MASS SPECTRA
MONTE CARLO METHOD
STAR CLUSTERS
STAR EVOLUTION
STARS
SURFACES
THREE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS