Detecting the Black Hole Candidate Population in M51's Young Massive Star Clusters: Constraints on Accreting Intermediate Mass Black Holes

TL;DR

This study combines X-ray, optical, and radio observations to search for accreting intermediate mass black holes in young massive star clusters of M51, finding limited evidence but setting constraints on their presence.

Contribution

It introduces a multi-wavelength observational approach to detect accreting IMBHs in star clusters, providing new constraints on their population in M51.

Findings

No significant radio counterparts to X-ray sources in young clusters.

Limited evidence for IMBHs above 10^4 Msun in M51.

Future radio facilities could detect lower-mass IMBHs.

Abstract

Intermediate mass black holes (10^2 < M_BH< 10^5 Msun) are an open question in our understanding of black hole evolution and growth. They have long been linked to dense star cluster environments thanks to cluster dynamics, but there are a limited number of secure detections. We leverage existing X-ray observations from Chandra X-ray Observatory and optical catalogs from Hubble Space Telescope with new radio observations from the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array to search for any evidence of accreting black holes in young massive clusters in the nearby galaxy M51. We find that of 43 bright ($L_X > 10^{38}$ erg/s) X-ray point sources in M51, 24 had probable matches to objects including possible associated star clusters in the HST Legacy Extragalactic UV Survey catalog, seven of which were classified as contaminants (background galaxies or foreground stars). We explore the optical properties of the remaining 17 sources, including cluster age and mass estimates, and search for radio counterparts in the 8-12 GHz band. The lack of radio counterparts to X-ray sources we know to be associated with young massive clusters in M51 suggests that we do not significantly detect hard-state IMBHs ~ 10^4 Msun or above. However, more sensitive radio facilities like the Square Kilometre Array and next generation Very Large Array may be able to provide evidence for IMBHs with masses down to ~ 10^3 Msun.