Dynamical evidence for intermediate mass black holes in old globular clusters

Abstract

We present an indirect dynamical evidence, based on the measure of the core to half mass radius ratio (rc/rh), that a significant fraction of globular clusters in our galaxy with an age greater than 10 half-mass relaxation times (t_rh) host an intermediate mass black hole (IMBH). In fact, after a few t_rh much of the memory about the details of initial conditions is erased and rc/rh is determined solely by the balance of the stellar encounters energy production in the core with the dissipation due to global expansion of the cluster. Here we compare the observed values of rc/rh from a sample of 57 galactic globular cluster, selected to be dynamically old and not strongly influenced by tidal forces, with the theoretical expectation for the rc/rh ratio based on analytical models and detailed numerical simulations. The simulations of the evolution of star clusters considered include combinations of single stars, primordial binaries and IMBH. For at least half of the clusters in our sample the observed rc/rh ratio appears to be too large to be explained without invoking the presence of an IMBH at the center of the system.