The dearth of nuclear star clusters in bright galaxies

We investigate the interaction of a massive globular cluster (GC) with a super massive black hole (SMBH), located at the centre of its host galaxy, by means of direct N-body simulations. The results show that tidal distortions induced by the stellar background and the SMBH act on a time shorter than...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 2016-03, Vol.456 (3), p.2457-2466
Main Authors: Arca-Sedda, M., Capuzzo-Dolcetta, R., Spera, M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Astronomy
Black holes
Decay
Distortion
Dynamical systems
Friction
Galaxies
Parents
Star clusters
Stars & galaxies
Symbols
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Summary:We investigate the interaction of a massive globular cluster (GC) with a super massive black hole (SMBH), located at the centre of its host galaxy, by means of direct N-body simulations. The results show that tidal distortions induced by the stellar background and the SMBH act on a time shorter than that of dynamical friction decay for a 106 M⊙ GC whenever the SMBH mass exceeds ∼108 M⊙. This implies an almost complete dissolution of the infalling GC before it reaches the inner region (≲5 pc) of the parent galaxy. The generalization of this result to a larger sample of infalling GCs shows that such destructive process may prevent the formation and growth of a bright galactic nucleus. Another interesting, serendipitous, result we obtained is that the close interaction between the SMBH and the GC produces a ‘wave’ of stars that escape from the cluster and, in a fraction, even from the whole galaxy.
ISSN:0035-8711
1365-2966
DOI:10.1093/mnras/stv2835