The globular cluster ( GC ) 47 Tuc has recently been proposed to host an intermediate-mass black hole ( IMBH ) or a population of stellar-mass black holes ( BHs ) .
To shed light on its dark content , we present an application of self-consistent multimass models with a varying mass function and content of stellar remnants , which we fit to various observational constraints .
Our best-fitting model successfully matches the observables and correctly predicts the radial distribution of millisecond pulsars and their gravitational accelerations inferred from long-term timing observations .
The data favours a population of BHs with a total mass of 430 ^ { +386 } _ { -301 } { M } _ { \odot } , but the most likely model has very few BHs .
Since our models do not include a central IMBH , we conclude that there is currently no need to invoke the presence of an IMBH in 47 Tuc .
The global present-day mass function inferred is significantly depleted in low-mass stars ( power-law slope \alpha = -0.52 ^ { +0.17 } _ { -0.16 } ) .
Given the orbit and predicted mass-loss history of this massive GC , the dearth of low-mass stars is difficult to explain with a standard initial mass function ( IMF ) followed by preferential escape of low-mass stars , and instead suggests that 47 Tuc may have formed with a bottom-light IMF .
Finally , by capturing the effect of dark remnants , our method offers a new way to probe the IMF in a GC above the current main-sequence turn-off mass , for which we find a slope of -2.49 \pm 0.08 .