Inference of black-hole mass fraction in Galactic globular clusters. A multi-dimensional approach to break the initial-condition degeneracies

TL;DR

This study investigates how multiple dynamical parameters can be combined to accurately infer the black-hole mass fraction in Galactic globular clusters, addressing degeneracies present when using single observables.

Contribution

It introduces a multi-dimensional approach using combined parameters to break degeneracies in black-hole mass fraction estimates in globular clusters.

Findings

Single observable methods are degenerate in estimating BH fractions.

Combining mass-segregation and velocity dispersion ratios can reduce degeneracies.

Current data limitations prevent definitive scenario discrimination.

Abstract

Context. Globular clusters (GCs) are suggested to host many stellar-mass black holes (BHs) at their centers, thus resulting in ideal testbeds for BH formation and retention theories. BHs are expected to play a major role in GC structural and dynamical evolution and their study has attracted a lot of attention. In recent years, several works attempted to constrain the BH mass fraction in GCs typically by comparing a single observable (for example mass segregation proxies) with scaling relations obtained from numerical simulations. Aims. We aim to uncover the possible intrinsic degeneracies in determining the BH mass fraction from single dynamical parameters and identify the possible parameter combinations that are able to break these degeneracies. Methods. We used a set of 101 Monte Carlo simulations sampling a large grid of initial conditions. In particular, we explored the impact of different BH natal kick prescriptions on widely adopted scaling relations. We then compared the results of our simulations with observations obtained using state-of-the-art HST photometric and astrometric catalogs for a sample of 30 Galactic GCs. Results. We find that using a single observable to infer the present-day BH mass fraction in GCs is degenerate, as similar values could be attained by simulations including different BH mass fractions. We argue that the combination of mass-segregation indicators with GC velocity dispersion ratios could help us to break this degeneracy efficiently. We show that such a combination of parameters can be derived with currently available data. However, the limited sample of stars with accurate kinematic measures and its impact on the overall errors do not allow us to discern fully different scenarios yet.