2019/03/19 by Jillian Bellovary, Bellovary, Jillian, Alyson Brooks +17 · 8 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Adaptive optics and wavefront sensing #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA) #FOS: Physical sciences #High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1903.08144
openalex publication_date 2019/03/19 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Observational evidence has been mounting for the existence of intermediate mass black holes (IMBHs, 102-105 Msun), but observing them at all, much less constraining their masses, is very challenging. In one theorized formation channel, IMBHs are the seeds for supermassive black holes in the early universe. As a result, IMBHs are predicted to exist in the local universe in dwarf galaxies, as well as wandering in more massive galaxy halos. However, these environments are not conducive to the accretion events or dynamical signatures that allow us to detect IMBHs. The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) will demystify IMBHs by detecting the mergers of these objects out to extremely high redshifts, while measuring their masses with extremely high precision. These observations of merging IMBHs will allow us to constrain the formation mechanism and subsequent evolution of massive black holes, from the 'dark ages' to the present day, and reveal the role that IMBHs play in hierarchical galaxy evolution.