2005/12/31 by M. Atakan Gürkan, John M. Fregeau, Frederic A. Rasio
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Binary black hole #Binary number #Black hole (networking) #Cluster (spacecraft) #Gravitational wave #Primordial black hole #Star cluster #Stars #Stellar black hole #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/503295
published as Astrophys.J.640:L39-L42,2006 · 4 pages with emulateapj. To appear in ApJ letters. Minor revisions to include the changes suggested by the referee
arxiv created 2006/02/11 · openalex publication_date 2006/03/06 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Recent theoretical work has solidified the viability of the collisional runaway scenario in young dense star clusters for the formation of very massive stars (VMSs), which may be precursors to intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs). We present first results from a numerical study of the collisional runaway process in dense star clusters containing primordial binaries. Stellar collisions during binary scattering encounters offer an alternate channel for runaway growth, somewhat independent of direct collisions between single stars. We find that clusters with binary fractions >~10% yield two VMSs via collisional runaways, presenting the exotic possibility of forming IMBH--IMBH binaries in star clusters. We discuss the implications for gravitational wave observations, and the impact on cluster structure.