Open AccessGravitational waves from remnants of ultraluminous X‐ray sources
Author(s) -
Hopman Clovis,
Portegies Zwart Simon
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
monthly notices of the royal astronomical society: letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.067
H-Index - 122
eISSN - 1745-3933
pISSN - 1745-3925
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-3933.2005.00083.x
Subject(s) - physics , gravitational wave , astrophysics , luminosity , astronomy , black hole (networking) , stellar mass , stars , galaxy , star formation , computer network , routing protocol , routing (electronic design automation) , computer science , link state routing protocol
Ultraluminous X‐ray sources (ULXs) with X‐ray luminosities larger than the Eddington luminosity of stellar‐mass objects may be powered by intermediate‐mass black holes (IBHs) of masses M • ∼ 10 3 M ⊙ . If IBHs form in young dense stellar clusters, they can be fed by Roche lobe overflow from a tidally captured massive ( M ★ > 10 M ⊙ ) stellar companion. After the donor leaves the main sequence it forms a compact remnant, which spirals in as a result of gravitational wave (GW) emission. We show that space‐based detectors such as the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna are likely to detect several of these sources. GW sources stemming from this scenario have small eccentricities which give distinct GW signals. Detection of such a GW signal will unambiguously prove the existence of IBHs, and support the hypothesis that some ULXs are powered by IBHs with captured companions.