Forming massive black holes through stellar collapse: Observational diagnostics

Abstract

Massive black holes are believed to reside in the centers of many galaxies. Their seeds, 1000-100 000 solar mass black holes are believed to have formed during the first epoch of star formation. Observations of X-ray binaries suggest that at least some intermediate mass black holes form at lower redshifts. If so, we may be able to observe these massive collapses. These collapses are very different than normal core-collapse supernovae, however, and observing the collapse of massive stars will require different observing strategies than those used for normal stellar collapse. Unlike supernovae, the collapse of massive stars may not produce any burst of photons and we must be more creative in observing the occurrence of such exotic "outbursts". Here we briefly review the observational prospects of massive star collapse, focusing on the ever-present neutrino signal. © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.