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Center for Nonlinear Studies |
I will discuss the search for black holes in globular clusters. Prevailing views on this topic have oscillated over the past 45 years, with some early suggestions that the relatively commonplace finding of bright X-ray sources in globular clusters, along with sharp increases in mass-to-light ratios of clusters towards their centers originally leading to suggestions that intermediate mass black holes in clusters are commonplace. This was later followed by arguments that globular clusters eject all their black holes and that more mundane explanations existed for the phenomena that had been used to argue for the intermediate mass variety. Over the past decade or so, the pendulum has begun to settle in the middle -- strong candidate stellar mass black holes have been found in clusters, and some preliminary understanding has developed for how they might be retained. The question of intermediate mass black holes remains hotly disputed. I will discuss the current state of affairs as well as developments that might result from proposed projects like the Next Generation Very Large Array, the James Webb Space Telescope, and, more speculatively, next generation optical interferometers.
Host: Nicole Lloyd-Ronning