FROST-CLUSTERS – III. Metallicity-dependent intermediate mass black hole formation by runaway collisions in dense star clusters

Abstract We explore the formation of intermediate mass black holes (IMBHs), potential seeds for supermassive black holes (SMBHs), via runaway stellar collisions for a wide range of star cluster (surface) densities (4 × 103 M⊙ pc−2 ≲ Σh ≲ 4 × 106 M⊙ pc−2) and metallicities (0.01 Z⊙ ≲ Z ≲ 1.0 Z⊙). Our sample of isolated (>1400) and hierarchical (30) simulations of young, massive star clusters with up to N = 1.8 × 106 stars includes collisional stellar dynamics, stellar evolution, and post-Newtonian equations of motion for black holes using the BIFROST code. High stellar wind rates suppress IMBH formation at high metallicities (Z ≳ 0.2 Z⊙) and low collision rates prevent their formation at low densities (Σh ≲ 3 × 104 M⊙ pc−2). The assumptions about stellar wind loss rates strongly affect the maximum final IMBH masses (M• ~ 6000 M⊙ vs. 25000 M⊙). The total stellar mass loss from collisions and collisionally boosted winds before t = 3 Myr can together reach up to 5–10 % of the final cluster mass. We present fitting formulae for IMBH masses as a function of host star cluster Σh and Z which can be used to seed SMBHs in high resolution cosmological hydrodynamical simulations and in semi-analytic models for galaxy formation. Our results favour IMBH formation in dense low metallicity environments similar to z ~ 10 James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) proto globular clusters. IMBH formation is suppressed in the high metallicity and low density conditions of the local Universe.