Journal
ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Volume 608, Issue 1, Pages L25-L28Publisher
IOP PUBLISHING LTD
DOI: 10.1086/422252
Keywords
black hole physics; galaxies : nuclei; gravitation; gravitational waves
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Core radii of globular clusters in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds show an increasing trend with age. We propose that this trend is a dynamical effect resulting from the accumulation of massive stars and stellar-mass black holes at the cluster centers. The black holes are remnants of stars with initial masses exceeding similar to20-25 M.; as their orbits decay by dynamical friction, they heat the stellar background and create a core. Using analytical estimates and N-body experiments, we show that the sizes of the cores so produced and their growth rates are consistent with what is observed. We propose that this mechanism is responsible for the formation of cores in all globular clusters and possibly in other systems as well.
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