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Abstract Dynamical interactions in dense star clusters could significantly influence the properties of black holes, leaving imprints on their gravitational-wave signatures. While previous studies have mostly focused on repeated black hole mergers for spin and mass growth, this work examines the impact of physical collisions and close encounters between black holes and (noncompact) stars. Using Monte CarloN-body models of dense star clusters, we find that a large fraction of black holes retained upon formation undergo collisions with stars. Within our explored cluster models, the proportion of binary black hole mergers affected by stellar collisions ranges from 10%–60%. If all stellar-mass black holes are initially nonspinning, we find that up to 40% of merging binary black holes may have components with dimensionless spin parameterχ ≳ 0.2 because of prior stellar collisions, while typically about 10% have spins nearχ = 0.7 from prior black hole mergers. We demonstrate that young star clusters are especially important environments, as they can produce collisions of black holes with very massive stars, allowing for significant spin-up of the black holes through accretion. Our predictions for black hole spin distributions from these stellar collisions highlight their sensitivity to accretion efficiency, underscoring the need for detailed hydrodynamic calculations to better understand the accretion physics following these interactions.
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Intermediate-mass Black Hole Progenitors from Stellar Collisions in Dense Star Clusters
Abstract Very massive stars (VMSs) formed via a sequence of stellar collisions in dense star clusters have been proposed as the progenitors of massive black hole seeds. VMSs could indeed collapse to form intermediate-mass black holes, which would then grow by accretion to become the supermassive black holes observed at the centers of galaxies and powering high-redshift quasars. Previous studies have investigated how different cluster initial conditions affect the formation of a VMS, including mass segregation, stellar collisions, and binaries, among others. In this study, we investigate the growth of VMSs with a new grid of Cluster Monte Carlo star cluster simulations—the most expansive to date. The simulations span a wide range of initial conditions, varying the number of stars, cluster density, stellar initial mass function (IMF), and primordial binary fraction. We find a gradual shift in the mass of the most massive collision product across the parameter space; in particular, denser clusters born with top-heavy IMFs provide strong collisional regimes that form VMSs with masses easily exceeding 1000M⊙. Our results are used to derive a fitting formula that can predict the typical mass of a VMS formed as a function of the star cluster properties. Additionally, we study the stochasticity of this process and derive a statistical distribution for the mass of the VMS formed in one of our models, recomputing the model 50 times with different initial random seeds.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2108624
- PAR ID:
- 10517861
- Publisher / Repository:
- DOI PREFIX: 10.3847
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- The Astrophysical Journal
- Volume:
- 969
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 0004-637X
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: Article No. 29
- Size(s):
- Article No. 29
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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