Black Holes in Globular Clusters

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The project follows up on a very exciting recent discovery: the potential detection of stellar mass black holes in an old globular cluster, using the NSF's Karl Jansky Very Large Array (VLA). Hundreds of stellar-mass black holes are expected to form in the early lifetimes of most clusters, and theoretical work suggests that these black holes quickly mass segregate to the cluster center and are nearly all ejected through mutual gravitational interactions. The existence of stellar-mass black holes in globular clusters would have broad implications: (i) globular clusters would become important hunting grounds for stellar-mass black holes, of which few are still known; (ii) globular clusters might offer a less biased view of the black hole mass function than the field; and (iii) the prospects for detecting gravitational wave sources such as black hole?black hole or black hole?pulsar binaries would be improved. Discovery of additional black holes in other globular clusters with VLA would be highly significant, and require substantial re-assessment of our understanding of these clusters. The impact of finding an intermediate mass black hole in the survey of globular clusters would be very significant.The broader impacts of this project focuses on three areas. The first is the inclusion of female undergraduates in research, starting early in their university careers. The second is the construction of new scientific exhibits focused on black holes and globular clusters for installation in a campus observatory. Finally, the broader scientific community and general public will be engaged in the results of ongoing research through social media interactions.