The presence of a nearby companion alters the evolution of massive stars in binary systems, leading to phenomena such as stellar mergers, x-ray binaries, and gamma-ray bursts. Unambiguous constraints on the fraction of massive stars affected by binary interaction were lacking. We simultaneously measured all relevant binary characteristics in a sample of Galactic massive O stars and quantified the frequency and nature of binary interactions. More than 70% of all massive stars will exchange mass with a companion, leading to a binary merger in one-third of the cases. These numbers greatly exceed previous estimates and imply that binary interaction dominates the evolution of massive stars, with implications for populations of massive stars and their supernovae.

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Binary Interaction Dominates the Evolution of Massive Stars

The Galactic Center is an excellent laboratory for studying phenomena and physical processes that may be occurring in many other galactic nuclei. The Center of our Milky Way is by far the closest galactic nucleus, and observations with exquisite resolution and sensitivity cover 18 orders of magnitude in energy of electromagnetic radiation. Theoretical simulations have become increasingly more powerful in explaining these measurements. This review summarizes the recent progress in observational and theoretical work on the central parsec, with a strong emphasis on the current empirical evidence for a central massive black hole and on the processes in the surrounding dense nuclear star cluster. We present the current evidence, from the analysis of the orbits of more than two dozen stars and from the measurements of the size and motion of the central compact radio source, Sgr A*, that this radio source must be a massive black hole of about 4.4 \times 1e6 Msun, beyond any reasonable doubt. We report what is known about the structure and evolution of the dense nuclear star cluster surrounding this black hole, including the astounding fact that stars have been forming in the vicinity of Sgr A* recently, apparently with a top-heavy stellar mass function. We discuss a dense concentration of fainter stars centered in the immediate vicinity of the massive black hole, three of which have orbital peri-bothroi of less than one light day. This 'S-star cluster' appears to consist mainly of young early-type stars, in contrast to the predicted properties of an equilibrium 'stellar cusp' around a black hole. This constitutes a remarkable and presently not fully understood 'paradox of youth'. We also summarize what is known about the emission properties of the accreting gas onto Sgr A* and how this emission is beginning to delineate the physical properties in the hot accretion zone around the event horizon.

The galactic center massive black hole and nuclear star cluster

Young massive clusters are dense aggregates of young stars that form the fundamental building blocks of galaxies. Several examples exist in the Milky Way Galaxy and the Local Group, but they are particularly abundant in starburst and interacting galaxies. The few young massive clusters that are close enough to resolve are of prime interest for studying the stellar mass function and the ecological interplay between stellar evolution and stellar dynamics. The distant unresolved clusters may be effectively used to study the star-cluster mass function, and they provide excellent constraints on the formation mechanisms of young cluster populations. Young massive clusters are expected to be the nurseries for many unusual objects, including a wide range of exotic stars and binaries. So far only a few such objects have been found in young massive clusters, although their older cousins, the globular clusters, are unusually rich in stellar exotica. In this review we focus on star clusters younger than $\sim100$ Myr, more than a few current crossing times old, and more massive than $\sim10^4$ \Msun, irrespective of cluster size or environment. We describe the global properties of the currently known young massive star clusters in the Local Group and beyond, and discuss the state of the art in observations and dynamical modeling of these systems. In order to make this review readable by observers, theorists, and computational astrophysicists, we also review the cross-disciplinary terminology.

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Young Massive Star Clusters

A luminous X-ray source is associated with MGG 11—a cluster of young stars ∼200 pc from the centre of the starburst galaxy M 82 (refs 1, 2). The properties of this source are best explained3,4 by invoking a black hole with a mass of at least 350 solar masses (350 M⊙), which is intermediate between stellar-mass and supermassive black holes. A nearby but somewhat more massive cluster (MGG 9) shows no evidence of such an intermediate-mass black hole1,3, raising the issue of just what physical characteristics of the clusters can account for this difference. Here we report numerical simulations of the evolution and motion of stars within the clusters, where stars are allowed to merge with each other. We find that for MGG 11 dynamical friction leads to the massive stars sinking rapidly to the centre of the cluster, where they participate in a runaway collision. This produces a star of 800–3,000 M⊙, which ultimately collapses to a black hole of intermediate mass. No such runaway occurs in the cluster MGG 9, because the larger cluster radius leads to a mass segregation timescale a factor of five longer than for MGG 11.

Formation of massive black holes through runaway collisions in dense young star clusters.

Evidence shows that massive black holes reside in most local galaxies. Studies have also established a number of relations between the MBH mass and properties of the host galaxy such as bulge mass and velocity dispersion. These results suggest that central MBHs, while much less massive than the host (~0.1%), are linked to the evolution of galactic structure. In hierarchical cosmologies, a single big galaxy today can be traced back to the stage when it was split up in hundreds of smaller components. Did MBH seeds form with the same efficiency in small proto-galaxies, or did their formation had to await the buildup of substantial galaxies with deeper potential wells? I briefly review here some of the physical processes that are conducive to the evolution of the massive black hole population. I will discuss black hole formation processes for ‘seed’ black holes that are likely to place at early cosmic epochs, and possible observational tests of these scenarios.

Formation of supermassive black holes

We study the early dynamical evolution of young dense star clusters by using Monte Carlo simulations for systems with up to N = 107 stars. Rapid mass segregation of massive main-sequence stars and the development of the Spitzer instability can drive these systems to core collapse in a small fraction of the initial half-mass relaxation time. If the core-collapse time is less than the lifetime of the massive stars, all stars in the collapsing core may then undergo a runaway collision process leading to the formation of a massive black hole. Here we study in detail the first step in this process, up to the occurrence of core collapse. We have performed about 100 simulations for clusters with a wide variety of initial conditions, varying systematically the cluster density profile, stellar initial mass function (IMF), and number of stars. We also considered the effects of initial mass segregation and stellar evolution mass loss. Our results show that, for clusters with a moderate initial central concentration and any realistic IMF, the ratio of core-collapse time to initial half-mass relaxation time is typically ~0.1, in agreement with the value previously found by direct N-body simulations for much smaller systems. Models with even higher central concentration initially, or with initial mass segregation (from star formation) have even shorter core collapse times. Remarkably, we find that, for all realistic initial conditions, the mass of the collapsing core is always close to ~10-3 of the total cluster mass, very similar to the observed correlation between central black hole mass and total cluster mass in a variety of environments. We discuss the implications of our results for the formation of intermediate-mass black holes in globular clusters and super star clusters, ultraluminous X-ray sources, and seed black holes in proto-galactic nuclei.

https://faculty.wcas.northwestern.edu/rasio/Papers/93.pdf

Formation of Massive Black Holes in Dense Star Clusters. I. Mass Segregation and Core Collapse

We review possible dynamical formation processes for central massive black holes in dense star clusters. We focus on the early dynamical evolution of young clusters containing a few thousand to a few million stars. One natural formation path for a central seed black hole in these systems involves the development of the Spitzer instability, through which the most massive stars can drive the cluster to core collapse in a very short time. The sudden increase in the core density then leads to a runaway collision process and the formation of a very massive merger remnant, which must then collapse to a black hole. Alternatively, if the most massive stars end their lives before core collapse, a central cluster of stellar-mass black holes is formed. This cluster will likely evaporate before reaching the highly relativistic state necessary to drive a runaway merger process through gravitational radiation, thereby avoiding the formation of a central massive black hole. We summarize the conditions under which these different paths will be followed, and present the results of recent numerical simulations demonstrating the process of rapid core collapse and runaway collisions between massive stars.

Formation of Massive Black Holes in Dense Star Clusters

We present a new study of the collisional runaway scenario to form an intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH, M-BH greater than or similar to 100M(circle dot)) at the centre of a young, compact stellar cluster. The first phase is the formation of a very dense central core of massive stars (M-* similar or equal to 30-120M(circle dot)) through mass segregation and gravothermal collapse. Previous work established the conditions for this to happen before the massive stars evolve off the main sequence ( MS). In this and a companion paper, we investigate the next stage by implementing direct collisions between stars. Using a Monte Carlo stellar dynamics code, we follow the core collapse and subsequent collisional phase in more than 100 models with varying cluster mass, size, and initial concentration. Collisions are treated either as ideal, 'sticky-sphere' mergers or using realistic prescriptions derived from 3D hydrodynamics computations. In all cases for which the core collapse happens in less than the MS lifetime of massive stars (similar or equal to 3 Myr), we obtain the growth of a single very massive star (VMS, M-* similar or equal to 400-4000M(circle dot)) through a runaway sequence of mergers. Mass loss from collisions, even for velocity dispersions as high as sigma(v) similar to 1000 km s(-1), does not prevent the runaway. The region of cluster parameter space leading to runaway is even more extended than predicted in previous work because, in clusters with sigma(v) > 300 km s(-1), collisions accelerate (and, in extreme cases, drive) core collapse. Although the VMS grows rapidly to greater than or similar to 1000M(circle dot) in models exhibiting runaway, we cannot predict accurately its final mass. This is because the termination of the runaway process must eventually be determined by a complex interplay between stellar dynamics, hydrodynamics, and the stellar evolution of the VMS. In the vast majority of cases, we find that the time between successive collisions becomes much shorter than the thermal time-scale of the VMS. Therefore, our assumption that all stars return quickly to the MS after a collision must eventually break down for the runaway product, and the stellar evolution of the VMS becomes very uncertain. For the same reason, the final fate of the VMS, including its possible collapse to an IMBH, remains unclear.

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Runaway collisions in young star clusters - II. Numerical results

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 provide 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.

Massive Black Hole Binaries from Collisional Runaways

We present results from dynamical Monte Carlo simulations of dense star clusters near the Galactic center. These clusters sink toward the center of the Galaxy by dynamical friction. During their in-spiral, they may undergo core collapse and form an intermediate-mass black hole through runaway collisions. Such a cluster can then reach within a parsec of the Galactic center before it completely disrupts, releasing many young stars in this region. This scenario provides a natural explanation for the presence of the young stars observed near the Galactic center. Here we determine the initial conditions for this scenario to work, and we derive the mass distribution of cluster stars as a function of distance from the Galactic center. For reasonable initial conditions, we find that clusters massive enough for rapid in-spiral would include a larger number of massive stars (m* 30 M☉) than currently observed in the in-spiral region. We point out several possible explanations for this apparent discrepancy.

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M. Atakan Gürkan

Papers

Formation of Massive Black Holes in Dense Star Clusters. I. Mass Segregation and Core Collapse

Formation of Massive Black Holes in Dense Star Clusters

Runaway collisions in young star clusters - II. Numerical results

Massive Black Hole Binaries from Collisional Runaways

The Disruption of stellar clusters containing massive black holes near the Galactic Center