Journal article
Illuminating Black Hole Subsystems in Young Star Clusters
N Kaaz, K Kremer, K Auchettl, E Ramirez-Ruiz
Astrophysical Journal | IOP PUBLISHING LTD | Published : 2021
Abstract
There is increasing evidence that globular clusters retain sizeable black hole populations at present day. This is supported by dynamical simulations of cluster evolution, which have unveiled the spatial distribution and mass spectrum of black holes in clusters across cosmic age. However, black hole populations of young, high metallicity clusters remain unconstrained. Black holes hosted by these clusters mass segregate early in their evolutionary history, forming central subsystems of hundreds to thousands of black holes. We argue that after supernova feedback has subsided (⪆50 Myr), the host cluster can accumulate gas from its dense surroundings, from which the black hole subsystem accretes..
View full abstractGrants
Awarded by Danish National Research Foundation
Awarded by NSF
Funding Acknowledgements
We thank A. Antoni, D. Lin, J. Naiman, and F. Rasio for guidance and encouragement. E.R.-R. thanks the HeisingSimons Foundation, the Danish National Research Foundation (DNRF132), and NSF (AST-1911206 and AST-1852393) for support. K.A. is supported by the Danish National Research Foundation (DNRF132). The authors thank the Niels Bohr Institute for its hospitality while part of this work was completed. The simulations presented in this work were performed using software produced by the Flash Center for Computational Science at the University of Chicago, which was visualized using code managed by the yt Project.