Multiwavelength detectability of isolated black holes in the Milky Way
Francesca Scarcella, Daniele Gaggero, Riley Connors, Julien Manshanden, Massimo Ricotti, Gianfranco Bertone
Abstract
ABSTRACT Isolated black holes in our Galaxy have eluded detection so far. We present here a comprehensive study on the detectability of isolated stellar-mass astrophysical black holes that accrete interstellar gas from molecular clouds in both the local region and the Central Molecular Zone. We adopt a state-of-the-art model for the accretion physics backed up by numerical simulations, and study the number of observable sources in both the radio and X-ray band, as a function of a variety of parameters. We discuss in particular the impact of the astrophysical uncertainties on our prediction for the number of bright X-ray sources in the central region of the Galaxy. We finally consider future developments in the radio domain and assess the potential of SKA to detect a population of astrophysical black holes accreting gas in our Galaxy.