Intermediate mass black holes in globular clusters: effects on jerks and jounces of millisecond pulsars. (arXiv:1905.05209v1 [astro-ph.HE])
<a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Abbate_F/0/1/0/all/0/1">Federico Abbate</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Spera_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">Mario Spera</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Colpi_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">Monica Colpi</a>
Globular clusters may host intermediate mass black holes (IMBHs) at their
centres. Here we propose a new method for their identification using
millisecond pulsars (MSPs) as probes. We show that measuring the first (jerk)
and second (jounce) derivatives of the accelerations of an ensemble of MSPs
will let us infer the presence of an IMBH in a globular cluster better than
measuring the sole accelerations. We test this concept by simulating a set of
star clusters with and without a central IMBH to extract the distributions of
the stellar jerks and jounces. We then apply this technique to the ensemble of
MSPs in the Galactic globular cluster 47 Tucanae. Current timing observations
are insufficient to constrain the presence of an IMBH and can only be used to
pose upper limits on its mass. But, with few more years of observations it will
be possible to test for the presence of a central IMBH with mass smaller than
$sim$ 1000 M$_{odot}$. We conclude that jerks and jounces help significantly
in reducing the upper limit of the mass of IMBHs in Galactic globular clusters.
Globular clusters may host intermediate mass black holes (IMBHs) at their
centres. Here we propose a new method for their identification using
millisecond pulsars (MSPs) as probes. We show that measuring the first (jerk)
and second (jounce) derivatives of the accelerations of an ensemble of MSPs
will let us infer the presence of an IMBH in a globular cluster better than
measuring the sole accelerations. We test this concept by simulating a set of
star clusters with and without a central IMBH to extract the distributions of
the stellar jerks and jounces. We then apply this technique to the ensemble of
MSPs in the Galactic globular cluster 47 Tucanae. Current timing observations
are insufficient to constrain the presence of an IMBH and can only be used to
pose upper limits on its mass. But, with few more years of observations it will
be possible to test for the presence of a central IMBH with mass smaller than
$sim$ 1000 M$_{odot}$. We conclude that jerks and jounces help significantly
in reducing the upper limit of the mass of IMBHs in Galactic globular clusters.
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