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Authors: Clovis Hopman (Weizmann), Simon Portegies Zwart (UvA)

Date: Wed, 8 Jun 2005

Abstract: Ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) with X-ray luminosities larger than the Eddington luminosity of stellar mass objects may be powered by intermediate mass black holes (IBHs) of masses Mbh~10ˆ3Msun. If IBHs form in young dense stellar clusters, they can be fed by Roche lobe overflow from a tidally captured massive (Ms>10Msun) stellar companion. After the donor leaves the main sequence it forms a compact remnant, which spirals in due to gravitational wave (GW) emission. We show that space based detectors such as the Light Interferometer Space Antenna are likely to detect several of these sources. GW sources stemming from this scenario have small eccentricities which give distinct GW signals. Detection of such a GW signal will unambiguously prove the existence of IBHs, and support the hypothesis that some ULXs are powered by IBHs with captured companions.

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