Probing populations of dark stellar remnants in the globular clusters 47 Tuc and Terzan 5 using pulsar timing

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new method combining dynamical models and pulsar timing data to constrain the mass distribution and remnant populations in globular clusters, demonstrated on 47 Tuc and Terzan 5.

Contribution

The novel approach allows for probing cluster dynamics and black hole populations without relying on stellar kinematic data, expanding analysis capabilities.

Findings

Small stellar-mass black hole population in 47 Tuc (~446 M_)

No need for a large intermediate-mass black hole in 47 Tuc

Upper limit of ~4000 M_ on black hole mass in Terzan 5

Abstract

We present a new method to combine multimass equilibrium dynamical models and pulsar timing data to constrain the mass distribution and remnant populations of Milky Way globular clusters (GCs). We first apply this method to 47 Tuc, a cluster for which there exists an abundance of stellar kinematic data and which is also host to a large population of millisecond pulsars. We demonstrate that the pulsar timing data allow us to place strong constraints on the overall mass distribution and remnant populations even without fitting on stellar kinematics. Our models favor a small population of stellar-mass BHs in this cluster (with a total mass of $446^{+75}_{-72} \mathrm{M_\odot}$), arguing against the need for a large ($ > 2000 \ \mathrm{M_\odot}$) central intermediate-mass black hole. We then apply the method to Terzan 5, a heavily obscured bulge cluster which hosts the largest population of millisecond pulsars of any Milky Way GC and for which the collection of conventional stellar kinematic data is very limited. We improve existing constraints on the mass distribution and structural parameters of this cluster and place stringent constraints on its black hole content, finding an upper limit on the mass in BHs of $\sim 4000 \ \mathrm{M_\odot}$. This method allows us to probe the central dynamics of GCs even in the absence of stellar kinematic data and can be easily applied to other GCs with pulsar timing data, for which datasets will continue to grow with the next generation of radio telescopes.