Core formation by a population of massive remnants

David Merritt; Slawomir Piatek; Simon Portegies Zwart; Marc Hemsendorf

doi:10.1086/422252

Core formation by a population of massive remnants

David Merritt, Slawomir Piatek, Simon Portegies Zwart, Marc Hemsendorf

Physics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

97 Scopus citations

Abstract

Core radii of globular clusters in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds show an increasing trend with age. We propose that this trend is a dynamical effect resulting from the accumulation of massive stars and stellar-mass black holes at the cluster centers. The black holes are remnants of stars with initial masses exceeding ∼20-25 M_⊙ as their orbits decay by dynamical friction, they heat the stellar background and create a core. Using analytical estimates and N-body experiments, we show that the sizes of the cores so produced and their growth rates are consistent with what is observed. We propose that this mechanism is responsible for the formation of cores in all globular clusters and possibly in other systems as well.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	L25-L28
Journal	Astrophysical Journal
Volume	608
Issue number	1 II
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1086/422252
State	Published - Jun 10 2004

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Astronomy and Astrophysics
Space and Planetary Science

Keywords

Black hole physics
Galaxies: nuclei
Gravitation
Gravitational waves

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10.1086/422252

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title = "Core formation by a population of massive remnants",

abstract = "Core radii of globular clusters in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds show an increasing trend with age. We propose that this trend is a dynamical effect resulting from the accumulation of massive stars and stellar-mass black holes at the cluster centers. The black holes are remnants of stars with initial masses exceeding ∼20-25 M⊙ as their orbits decay by dynamical friction, they heat the stellar background and create a core. Using analytical estimates and N-body experiments, we show that the sizes of the cores so produced and their growth rates are consistent with what is observed. We propose that this mechanism is responsible for the formation of cores in all globular clusters and possibly in other systems as well.",

keywords = "Black hole physics, Galaxies: nuclei, Gravitation, Gravitational waves",

author = "David Merritt and Slawomir Piatek and Zwart, {Simon Portegies} and Marc Hemsendorf",

note = "Funding Information: D. M. and M. H. were supported by NSF grant AST 02-0631, NASA grant NAG5-9046, and grant HST-AR-09519.01-A from STScI. S. P. Z. was supported by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences (KNAW), the Dutch Organization of Science (NWO), and the Netherlands Research School for Astronomy (NOVA). We thank R. Larson, F. Schweizer, M. Wilkinson, and the anonymous referee for comments that improved the manuscript.",

year = "2004",

month = jun,

day = "10",

doi = "10.1086/422252",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "608",

pages = "L25--L28",

journal = "Astrophysical Journal",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Core formation by a population of massive remnants

AU - Merritt, David

AU - Piatek, Slawomir

AU - Zwart, Simon Portegies

AU - Hemsendorf, Marc

N1 - Funding Information: D. M. and M. H. were supported by NSF grant AST 02-0631, NASA grant NAG5-9046, and grant HST-AR-09519.01-A from STScI. S. P. Z. was supported by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences (KNAW), the Dutch Organization of Science (NWO), and the Netherlands Research School for Astronomy (NOVA). We thank R. Larson, F. Schweizer, M. Wilkinson, and the anonymous referee for comments that improved the manuscript.

PY - 2004/6/10

Y1 - 2004/6/10

N2 - Core radii of globular clusters in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds show an increasing trend with age. We propose that this trend is a dynamical effect resulting from the accumulation of massive stars and stellar-mass black holes at the cluster centers. The black holes are remnants of stars with initial masses exceeding ∼20-25 M⊙ as their orbits decay by dynamical friction, they heat the stellar background and create a core. Using analytical estimates and N-body experiments, we show that the sizes of the cores so produced and their growth rates are consistent with what is observed. We propose that this mechanism is responsible for the formation of cores in all globular clusters and possibly in other systems as well.

AB - Core radii of globular clusters in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds show an increasing trend with age. We propose that this trend is a dynamical effect resulting from the accumulation of massive stars and stellar-mass black holes at the cluster centers. The black holes are remnants of stars with initial masses exceeding ∼20-25 M⊙ as their orbits decay by dynamical friction, they heat the stellar background and create a core. Using analytical estimates and N-body experiments, we show that the sizes of the cores so produced and their growth rates are consistent with what is observed. We propose that this mechanism is responsible for the formation of cores in all globular clusters and possibly in other systems as well.

KW - Black hole physics

KW - Galaxies: nuclei

KW - Gravitation

KW - Gravitational waves

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U2 - 10.1086/422252

DO - 10.1086/422252

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:3142741764

SN - 0004-637X

VL - 608

SP - L25-L28

JO - Astrophysical Journal

JF - Astrophysical Journal

IS - 1 II

ER -

Core formation by a population of massive remnants

Abstract

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Keywords

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