2002/06/30 by M. Coleman Miller · 5 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Astrophysics #Black hole (networking) #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Globular cluster #Gravitational wave #Intermediate-mass black hole #Physics #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #Star formation #Stellar black hole #Stellar mass #Supermassive black hole #astro-ph #gr-qc
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/344156
published as Astrophys.J. 581 (2002) 438-450 · Minor changes, accepted by ApJ (December 10, 2002)
arxiv created 2002/09/02 · openalex publication_date 2002/12/10 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Recent X-ray observations of galaxies with ROSAT , ASCA , and Chandra have revealed numerous bright off-center point sources that, if isotropic emitters, are likely to be intermediate-mass black holes, with M ~ 10 2 -10 4 M ☉ . The origin of these objects is under debate, but observations suggest that a significant number of them currently reside in young high-density stellar clusters. There is also growing evidence that some Galactic globular clusters harbor black holes of similar mass, from observations of stellar kinematics. In such high-density stellar environments, the interactions of intermediate-mass black holes are promising sources of gravitational waves for ground-based and space-based detectors. Here we explore the signal strengths of binaries containing intermediate-mass black holes or stellar-mass black holes in dense stellar clusters. We estimate that a few to tens per year of these objects will be detectable during the last phase of their inspiral with the advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory detector, and up to tens per year will be seen during merger, depending on the spins of the black holes. We also find that if these objects reside in globular clusters, then tens of sources will be detectable with the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna from the Galactic globular system in a 5 yr integration, and similar numbers will be detectable from more distant galaxies. The signal strength depends on the eccentricity distribution, but we show that there is promise for strong detection of pericenter precession and Lense-Thirring precession of the orbital plane. We conclude by discussing what could be learned about binaries, dense stellar systems, and strong gravity if such signals are detected.