FROST-CLUSTERS – III. Metallicity-dependent intermediate mass black hole formation by runaway collisions in dense star clusters

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ID: 315084
2026
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Abstract
Abstract We explore the formation of intermediate mass black holes (IMBHs), potential seeds for supermassive black holes (SMBHs), via runaway stellar collisions for a wide range of star cluster (surface) densities (4 × 103 M⊙ pc−2 ≲ Σh ≲ 4 × 106 M⊙ pc−2) and metallicities (0.01 Z⊙ ≲ Z ≲ 1.0 Z⊙). Our sample of isolated (>1400) and hierarchical (30) simulations of young, massive star clusters with up to N = 1.8 × 106 stars includes collisional stellar dynamics, stellar evolution, and post-Newtonian equations of motion for black holes using the BIFROST code. High stellar wind rates suppress IMBH formation at high metallicities (Z ≳ 0.2 Z⊙) and low collision rates prevent their formation at low densities (Σh ≲ 3 × 104 M⊙ pc−2). The assumptions about stellar wind loss rates strongly affect the maximum final IMBH masses (M• ~ 6000 M⊙ vs. 25000 M⊙). The total stellar mass loss from collisions and collisionally boosted winds before t = 3 Myr can together reach up to 5–10 % of the final cluster mass. We present fitting formulae for IMBH masses as a function of host star cluster Σh and Z which can be used to seed SMBHs in high resolution cosmological hydrodynamical simulations and in semi-analytic models for galaxy formation. Our results favour IMBH formation in dense low metallicity environments similar to z ~ 10 James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) proto globular clusters. IMBH formation is suppressed in the high metallicity and low density conditions of the local Universe.
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Authors Antti Rantala, Thorsten Naab, Natalia Lahén, Klaus Reuter, Markus Rampp, Martyna Chruślińska, B. Reinoso
Journal monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/mnras/stag986
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