{"id":8765,"date":"2023-10-01T00:40:13","date_gmt":"2023-10-01T00:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/power2innovate.com\/computer-simulations-show-how-intermediate-mass-black-holes-could-form-inside-stellar-clusters\/"},"modified":"2023-10-01T00:40:13","modified_gmt":"2023-10-01T00:40:13","slug":"computer-simulations-show-how-intermediate-mass-black-holes-could-form-inside-stellar-clusters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/power2innovate.com\/computer-simulations-show-how-intermediate-mass-black-holes-could-form-inside-stellar-clusters\/","title":{"rendered":"Computer simulations show how intermediate-mass black holes could form inside stellar clusters"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\n \n The image depicts a simulated stellar cluster as computed in the Dragon-II simulations. Orange and yellow dots represent sunlike stars, while the blue dots indicate stars with masses of 20 to 300 times that of the Sun. The large white object in the center represents a star with a mass of about 350 solar masses, which will shortly collapse to form an intermediate-mass black hole. Credit: M. Arca Sedda (GSSI) \n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
An international consortium of astronomers, including staff from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, has successfully unraveled the intricate formation mechanisms of the elusive intermediate-mass black holes. They could represent the link between their smaller relatives, the stellar black holes, and the supermassive giants that populate the centers of galaxies.<\/p>\n\n <\/p>\n<\/section>\n
This achievement derives from the DRAGON-II simulation project led by the Gran Sasso Science Institute. The scientists involved in this study computed the complex interactions of stars, stellar black holes, and physical processes inside dense stellar clusters, demonstrating that black holes of up to a few hundred solar masses can emerge in those environments.\n<\/p>\n
The quest to locate and understand the origins of intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) remains an ongoing enigma. If they exist, they may serve as the connecting link between two extremes of black holes. At the low-mass end, we observe stellar black holes, remnants of supernova explosions of massive stars at the end of their lifetime.\n<\/p>\n
On the other hand, we find black holes in the centers of galaxies, millions or even billions times more massive than the sun. The formation and growth of these objects still represent a fascinating mystery to modern astronomy, mainly due to the lack of a definitive smoking gun supporting the existence of such black holes. Astronomers expect to find them in dense and crowded stellar clusters.\n<\/p>\n
“Intermediate-mass black holes are difficult to observe,” explains Manuel Arca Sedda from the Gran Sasso Science Institute (GSSI) in L’Aquila, Italy, and the main author of the underlying research article published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society<\/i>. “The current observational limits do not allow us to say anything about the population of intermediate-mass black holes with masses between 1,000 and 10,000 solar masses, and they also represent a headache for scientists regarding the possible mechanisms that lead to their formation.”\n<\/p>\n
To overcome this disadvantage, an international team led by Arca Sedda and including Albrecht Kamlah of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, Germany (MPIA) have undertaken an innovative series of high-resolution numerical simulations of stellar clusters, known as the DRAGON-II cluster database. In this endeavor, the astronomers uncovered a potential pathway for the formation of black holes of intermediate mass within young, densely populated, and massive star clusters.<\/p>\n
These ground-breaking simulations had to compute a sequence of complex interactions between normal single and binary stars, leading to collisions and forming increasingly massive stars that eventually evolve into IMBHs. At that stage, those black holes may continue incorporating additional massive stars and black holes, leading to a growth to several hundred solar masses. As it turns out, no single pathway leads to an intermediate-mass black hole. Instead, the astronomers find a complex range of interactions and merging events.<\/p>\n\n \n \n \n \n \n <\/p>\n