A re-evaluation of the central velocity-dispersion profile in NGC 6388

Recently, two independent groups found very different results when measuring the central velocity dispersion of the galactic globular cluster NGC 6388 with different methods. While L\"utzgendorf et al. (2011) found a rising profile and a high central velocity dispersion (23.3 km/s), measurements obtained by Lanzoni et al. (2013) showed a value 40% lower. The value of the central velocity dispersion has a serious impact on the mass and possible presence of an intermediate-mass black hole at the center of NGC 6388. We use a photometric catalog of NGC 6388 to create a simulated SINFONI and ARGUS dataset. The construction of the IFU data cube is done with different observing conditions reproducing the conditions reported for the original observations as closely as possible. In addition, we produce an N-body realization of a 10^6 M_SUN stellar cluster with the same photometric properties as NGC 6388 to account for unresolved stars. We find that the individual radial velocities, i.e. the measurements from the simulated SINFONI data, are systematically biased towards lower velocity dispersions. The reason is that due to the wings in the point spread function the velocities get biased towards the mean cluster velocity. This study shows that even with AO supported observations, individual radial velocities in crowded fields are likely to be biased. The ARGUS observations do not show this kind of bias but were found to have larger uncertainties than previously obtained. We find a bias towards higher velocity dispersions in the ARGUS pointing when fixing the extreme velocities of the three brightest stars but find those variations are within the determined uncertainties. We rerun Jeans models and fit the kinematic profile with the new uncertainties. This yields a BH mass of M_BH = (2.8 +- 0.4) x 10^4 M_SUN and M/L ratio M/L = (1.6 +- 0.1) M_SUN/L_SUN, consistent with our previous results.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figure, accepted for publication in A&

The dynamical state of the Globular Cluster M10 (NGC 6254)

Studying the radial variation of the stellar mass function in globular clusters (GCs) has proved a valuable tool to explore the collisional dynamics leading to mass segregation and core collapse. In order to study the radial dependence of the luminosity and mass function of M 10, we used ACS/HST deep high resolution archival images, reaching out to approximately the cluster's half-mass radius (rhm), combined with deep WFPC2 images that extend our radial coverage to more than 2 rhm. From our photometry, we derived a radial mass segregation profile and a global mass function that we compared with those of simulated clusters containing different energy sources (namely hard binaries and/or an IMBH) able to halt core collapse and to quench mass segregation. A set of direct N-body simulations of GCs, with and without an IMBH of mass 1% of the total cluster mass, comprising different initial mass functions (IMFs) and primordial binary fractions, was used to predict the observed mass segregation profile and mass function. The mass segregation profile of M 10 is not compatible with cluster models without either an IMBH or primordial binaries, as a source of energy appears to be moderately quenching mass segregation in the cluster. Unfortunately, the present observational uncertainty on the binary fraction in M10 does not allow us to confirm the presence of an IMBH in the cluster, since an IMBH, a dynamically non-negligible binary fraction (~ 5%), or both can equally well explain the radial dependence of the cluster mass function.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication on Ap

Central kinematics of the globular cluster NGC 2808: Upper limit on the mass of an intermediate-mass black hole

Globular clusters are an excellent laboratory for stellar population and dynamical research. Recent studies have shown that these stellar systems are not as simple as previously assumed. With multiple stellar populations as well as outer rotation and mass segregation they turn out to exhibit high complexity. This includes intermediate-mass black holes which are proposed to sit at the centers of some massive globular clusters. Today's high angular resolution ground based spectrographs allow velocity-dispersion measurements at a spatial resolution comparable to the radius of influence for plausible IMBH masses, and to detect changes in the inner velocity-dispersion profile. Together with high quality photometric data from HST, it is possible to constrain black-hole masses by their kinematic signatures. We determine the central velocity-dispersion profile of the globular cluster NGC 2808 using VLT/FLAMES spectroscopy. In combination with HST/ACS data our goal is to probe whether this massive cluster hosts an intermediate-mass black hole at its center and constrain the cluster mass to light ratio as well as its total mass. We derive a velocity-dispersion profile from integral field spectroscopy in the center and Fabry Perot data for larger radii. High resolution HST data are used to obtain the surface brightness profile. Together, these data sets are compared to dynamical models with varying parameters such as mass to light ratio profiles and black-hole masses. Using analytical Jeans models in combination with variable M/L profiles from N-body simulations we find that the best fit model is a no black hole solution. After applying various Monte Carlo simulations to estimate the uncertainties, we derive an upper limit of the back hole mass of M_BH < 1 x 10^4 M_SUN (with 95 % confidence limits) and a global mass-to-light ratio of M/L_V = (2.1 +- 0.2) M_SUN/L_SUN.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in A&

Mass Segregation in NGC 2298: limits on the presence of an Intermediate Mass Black Hole

[abridged] Theoretical investigations have suggested the presence of Intermediate Mass Black Holes (IMBHs, with masses in the 100-10000 Msun range) in the cores of some Globular Clusters (GCs). In this paper we present the first application of a new technique to determine the presence or absence of a central IMBH in globular clusters that have reached energy equipartition via two-body relaxation. The method is based on the measurement of the radial profile for the average mass of stars in the system, using the fact that a quenching of mass segregation is expected when an IMBH is present. Here we measure the radial profile of mass segregation using main-sequence stars for the globular cluster NGC 2298 from resolved source photometry based on HST-ACS data. The observations are compared to expectations from direct N-body simulations of the dynamics of star clusters with and without an IMBH. The mass segregation profile for NGC 2298 is quantitatively matched to that inferred from simulations without a central massive object over all the radial range probed by the observations, that is from the center to about two half-mass radii. Profiles from simulations containing an IMBH more massive than ~ 300-500 Msun (depending on the assumed total mass of NGC 2298) are instead inconsistent with the data at about 3 sigma confidence, irrespective of the IMF and binary fraction chosen for these runs. While providing a null result in the quest of detecting a central black hole in globular clusters, the data-model comparison carried out here demonstrates the feasibility of the method which can also be applied to other globular clusters with resolved photometry in their cores.Comment: 21 pages, 3 figures, ApJ accepte

Intermediate-mass black holes in Globular Clusters

For a sample of nine Galactic globular clusters we measured the inner kinematic profiles with integral-field spectroscopy that we combined with existing outer kinematic measurements and HST luminosity profiles. With this information we are able to detect the crucial rise in the velocity-dispersion profile which indicates the presence of a central black hole. In addition, N-body simulations compared to our data will give us a deeper insight in the properties of clusters with black holes and stronger selection criteria for further studies. For the first time, we obtain a homogeneous sample of globular cluster integral- field spectroscopy which allows a direct comparison between clusters with and without an intermediate-mass black hole.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. To appear in the conference proceedings "Reading the book of globular clusters with the lens of stellar evolution", Mem. S. A. It. Eds. P. Ventura, C. Charbonnel, M. Castellani and M. Di Criscienz

On the Fundamental Line of Galactic and Extragalactic Globular Clusters

In a previous paper we found that the Globular Clusters of our Galaxy lie around a line in the log(Re), SBe, log(sigma) parameter space, with a moderate degree of scatter and remarkable axi-symmetry. This implies the existence of a purely photometric scaling law obtained by projecting such a line onto the log(Re), SBe plane. Such photometric quantities are readily available for large samples of clusters, as opposed to stellar velocity dispersion data. We study a sample of 129 Galactic and extragalactic clusters on such photometric plane in the V-band. We look for a linear relation between SBe and log(Re) and study how the scatter around it is influenced by age and dynamical environment. We interpret our results as a test on the evolutionary versus primordial origin of the Fundamental Line. We perform a detailed analysis of surface brightness profiles, which allows us to present a catalogue of structural properties, without relying on a given dynamical model. We find a linear relation between SBe and log(Re), in the form SBe = (5.25 +- 0.44) log(Re) + (15.58 +- 0.28), where SBe is measured in mag/arcsec^2 and Re in parsec. Both young and old clusters lie on the scaling law, with a scatter of approximately 1 mag in SBe. However, young clusters display more scatter and a clear trend of such scatter with age, which old clusters do not. Such trend becomes tighter if cluster age is measured in units of the cluster half-light relaxation time. Two-body relaxation therefore plays a major role, together with passive stellar population evolution, in shaping the relation between SBe, log(Re), and cluster age. We argue that the log(Re)-SBe relation and hence the Fundamental Line scaling law is not primordially set at cluster formation, but rather is the result of combined stellar evolution and collisional dynamical evolution.Comment: Accepted for publication on Astronomy and Astrophysics, official acceptance date November 2, 200

High-velocity stars in the cores of globular clusters: The illustrative case of NGC 2808

We report the detection of five high-velocity stars in the core of the globular cluster NGC 2808. The stars lie on the the red giant branch and show total velocities between 40 and 45 km/s. For a core velocity dispersion sigma_c = 13.4 km/s, this corresponds to up to 3.4 sigma_c. These velocities are close to the estimated escape velocity (~ 50 km/s) and suggest an ejection from the core. Two of these stars have been confirmed in our recent integral field spectroscopy data and we will discuss them in more detail here. These two red giants are located at a projected distance of ~ 0.3 pc from the center. According to their positions on the color magnitude diagram, both stars are cluster members. We investigate several possible origins for the high velocities of the stars and conceivable ejection mechanisms. Since the velocities are close to the escape velocity, it is not obvious whether the stars are bound or unbound to the cluster. We therefore consider both cases in our analysis. We perform numerical simulations of three-body dynamical encounters between binaries and single stars and compare the resulting velocity distributions of escapers with the velocities of our stars. We compare the predictions for a single dynamical encounter with a compact object with those of a sequence of two-body encounters due to relaxation. If the stars are unbound, the encounter must have taken place recently, when the stars were already in the giant phase. After including binary fractions and black-hole retention fractions, projection effects, and detection probabilities from Monte-Carlo simulations, we estimate the expected numbers of detections for all the different scenarios. Based on these numbers, we conclude that the most likely scenario is that the stars are bound and were accelerated by a single encounter between a binary of main-sequence stars and a ~ 10 M_sun black hole.Comment: 13 pages, 12 figures, Accepted for publication in A&

A Dynamical N-body Model for the Central Region of ω\omega Centauri

Supermassive black holes (SMBHs) are fundamental keys to understand the formation and evolution of their host galaxies. However, the formation and growth of SMBHs are not yet well understood. One of the proposed formation scenarios is the growth of SMBHs from seed intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs, 10^2 to 10^5 M_{\odot}) formed in star clusters. In this context, and also with respect to the low mass end of the M-sigma relation for galaxies, globular clusters are in a mass range that make them ideal systems to look for IMBHs. Among Galactic star clusters, the massive cluster $\omega$ Centauri is a special target due to its central high velocity dispersion and also its multiple stellar populations. We study the central structure and dynamics of the star cluster $\omega$ Centauri to examine whether an IMBH is necessary to explain the observed velocity dispersion and surface brightness profiles. We perform direct N-body simulations to follow the dynamical evolution of $\omega$ Centauri. The simulations are compared to the most recent data-sets in order to explain the present-day conditions of the cluster and to constrain the initial conditions leading to the observed profiles. We find that starting from isotropic spherical multi-mass King models and within our canonical assumptions, a model with a central IMBH mass of 2% of the cluster stellar mass, i.e. a 5x10^4 M_{\odot} IMBH, provides a satisfactory fit to both the observed shallow cusp in surface brightness and the continuous rise towards the center of the radial velocity dispersion profile. In our isotropic spherical models, the predicted proper motion dispersion for the best-fit model is the same as the radial velocity dispersion one. (abridged)Comment: Accepted for publication in A&