Open AccessConstraints on the mass and abundance of black holes in the Galactic halo: the high‐mass limit
Author(s) -
Murali Chigurupati,
Arras Phil,
Wasserman Ira
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.058
H-Index - 383
eISSN - 1365-2966
pISSN - 0035-8711
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-8711.2000.03222.x
Subject(s) - physics , globular cluster , astrophysics , halo , radius , cluster (spacecraft) , galactic halo , black hole (networking) , monte carlo method , mass fraction , galaxy , thermodynamics , computer network , routing protocol , statistics , routing (electronic design automation) , computer security , mathematics , link state routing protocol , computer science , programming language
We establish constraints on the mass and abundance of black holes in the Galactic halo by determining their impact on globular clusters, which are conventionally considered to be little evolved. Using detailed Monte Carlo simulations and simple evolutionary models, we argue that black holes with masses M bh ≳(1–3)×10 6 M ⊙ can comprise no more than a fraction f bh ≈0.17 of the total halo density at Galactocentric radius R ≈8 kpc. This bound arises from requiring stability of the cluster mass function. A more restrictive bound may be derived if we demand that the probability of destruction of any given, low‐mass M c ≈(2.5–7.5)×10 4 M ⊙ ] globular cluster not exceed 50 per cent; this bound is f bh ≲0.025–0.05 at R ≈8 kpc. This constraint improves those based on disc heating and dynamical friction arguments as well as current lensing results. At smaller radius the constraint on f bh strengthens, while at larger radius an increased fraction of black holes is allowed.