Title:Intermediate Mass Black Hole in the star cluster Omega Centauri


Abstract:
I propose to give an overview of Intermediate Mass Black Holes (IMBHs) in star 
clusters.
IMBHs have recently received growing attention as these objects could play an 
important role in the building of nuclear clusters and the formation of super-massive 
black holes. Understanding their nature, in particular for masses <104 Msun (i.e. at the 
low mass end of the black hole mass - sigma relation) is a critical step towards a 
better understanding of the dynamics of their hosts (massive star cluster or dwarf 
galaxy nuclei).
I will review the evidence for IMBHs in several globular clusters brought forward over the 
last years (and in several cases the counter-arguments). I will then focus on the best 
studied case to date: Omega Centauri. Omega Centauri is one of the most important 
targets in this context as it is suspected to be the stripped nucleus of the dwarf galaxy 
and hence might represent a transition object between globular clusters and nuclear 
clusters. I will present our new results of direct N-body simulations with and without 
IMBH for Omega Centauri. The models are compared to our newly acquired 
VLT-FLAMES data of the cluster''s central kinematics, as well as to the rich data from 
the literature, in particular the recent proper motion and integral field data. I will end 
with an outlook of this field in the next years.