Intermediate-Mass Black Holes in Globular Cluster Systems

Understand

Using the Next Generation Very Large Array (ngVLA), we will make a comprehensive inventory of intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) in hundreds of globular cluster systems out to a distance of 25 Mpc.

• IMBHs have masses of about 100 to 100,000 solar masses.
• Finding them in globular clusters would validate a formation channel for seed black holes in the early universe and inform event predictions for gravitational wave facilities.
• Reaching a large number of globular clusters is key, as Fragione et al.