Mass Measurements of Stellar and Intermediate Mass Black-Holes

Abstract

We discuss the method, and potential systematic effects therein, used for measuring the mass of stellar-mass black holes in X-ray binaries. We restrict our discussion to the method that relies on the validity of Kepler's laws; we refer to this method as the dynamical method. We briefly discuss the implications of the mass distribution of stellar-mass black holes and provide an outlook for future measurements. Further, we investigate the evidence for the existence of intermediate-mass black holes i.e. black holes with masses above 100 Msun, the limit to the black hole mass that can be produced by stellar evolution in the current Universe.

28 pages, 12 figures. Accepted for publication in Space Science Reviews (DOI 10.1007/s11214-013-0030-6). Also to appear in hard cover in the Space Sciences Series of ISSI "The Physics of Accretion onto Black Holes" (Springer Publisher). Replaced with a new version including a new Fig.1, fixed two references, some typos and minor style changes