Could Black Hole X-Ray Binaries Be Detected in Globular Clusters?

We consider the implications of the presence of an ∼1 stellar-mass black hole (BH) at the center of a dense globular cluster. We show that BH X-ray binaries formed through exchange interactions are likely to have extremely low duty cycles (under about 10 3 ), consistent with the absence of BH X-ray transients in Galactic globular clusters. In contrast, we find that BH X-ray binaries formed through tidal capture would be persistent, bright Xray sources. Given the absence of any such source and the very high interaction rates, we conclude that tidal capture of a main-sequence star by a BH most likely leads to the complete disruption of the star. Subject headings: accretion, accretion disks — binaries: close — black hole physics — globular clusters: general — stellar dynamics

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