We develop a Newtonian model of a deep tidal disruption event (TDE), for which the pericenter distance of the star,
A tidal disruption event (TDE) occurs when the gravitational field of a supermassive black hole (SMBH) destroys a star. For TDEs in which the star enters deep within the tidal radius, such that the ratio of the tidal radius to the pericenter distance
- Award ID(s):
- 2006684
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10379422
- Publisher / Repository:
- DOI PREFIX: 10.3847
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- The Astrophysical Journal
- Volume:
- 939
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 0004-637X
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: Article No. 71
- Size(s):
- ["Article No. 71"]
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Abstract r p, is well within the tidal radius of the black hole,r t, i.e., whenβ ≡r t/r p≫ 1. We find that shocks form forβ ≳ 3, but they are weak (with Mach numbers ∼1) for allβ , and that they reach the center of the star prior to the time of maximum adiabatic compression forβ ≳ 10. The maximum density and temperature reached during the TDE follow much shallower relations withβ than the previously predicted and scalings. Belowβ ≃ 10, this shallower dependence occurs because the pressure gradient is dynamically significant before the pressure is comparable to the ram pressure of the free-falling gas, while aboveβ ≃ 10, we find that shocks prematurely halt the compression and yield the scalings and . We find excellent agreement between our results and high-resolution simulations. Our results demonstrate that, in the Newtonian limit, the compression experienced by the star is completely independent of the mass of the black hole. We discuss our results in the context of existing (affine) models, polytropic versus non-polytropic stars, and general relativistic effects, which become important when the pericenter of the star nears the direct capture radius, atβ ∼ 12.5 (2.7) for a solar-like star disrupted by a 106M ⊙(107M ⊙) supermassive black hole. -
Abstract Tidal disruption events (TDEs) provide a unique opportunity to probe the stellar populations around supermassive black holes (SMBHs). By combining light-curve modeling with spectral line information and knowledge about the stellar populations in the host galaxies, we are able to constrain the properties of the disrupted star for three TDEs. The TDEs in our sample have UV spectra, and measurements of the UV N
iii to Ciii line ratios enabled estimates of the nitrogen-to-carbon abundance ratios for these events. We show that the measured nitrogen line widths are consistent with originating from the disrupted stellar material dispersed by the central SMBH. We find that these nitrogen-to-carbon abundance ratios necessitate the disruption of moderately massive stars (≳1–2M ⊙). We determine that these moderately massive disruptions are overrepresented by a factor of ≳102when compared to the overall stellar population of the post-starburst galaxy hosts. This implies that SMBHs are preferentially disrupting higher mass stars, possibly due to ongoing top-heavy star formation in nuclear star clusters or to dynamical mechanisms that preferentially transport higher mass stars to their tidal radii. -
Abstract We present a toy model for the thermal optical/UV/X-ray emission from tidal disruption events (TDEs). Motivated by recent hydrodynamical simulations, we assume that the debris streams promptly and rapidly circularize (on the orbital period of the most tightly bound debris), generating a hot quasi-spherical pressure-supported envelope of radius
R v ∼ 1014cm (photosphere radius ∼1015cm) surrounding the supermassive black hole (SMBH). As the envelope cools radiatively, it undergoes Kelvin–Helmholtz contractionR v ∝t −1, its temperature risingT eff∝t 1/2while its total luminosity remains roughly constant; the optical luminosity decays as . Despite this similarity to the mass fallback rate , envelope heating from fallback accretion is subdominant compared to the envelope cooling luminosity except near optical peak (where they are comparable). Envelope contraction can be delayed by energy injection from accretion from the inner envelope onto the SMBH in a regulated manner, leading to a late-time flattening of the optical/X-ray light curves, similar to those observed in some TDEs. Eventually, as the envelope contracts to near the circularization radius, the SMBH accretion rate rises to its maximum, in tandem with the decreasing optical luminosity. This cooling-induced (rather than circularization-induced) delay of up to several hundred days may account for the delayed onset of thermal X-rays, late-time radio flares, and high-energy neutrino generation, observed in some TDEs. We compare the model predictions to recent TDE light-curve correlation studies, finding both agreement and points of tension. -
ABSTRACT Stars that plunge into the centre of a galaxy are tidally perturbed by a supermassive black hole (SMBH), with closer encounters resulting in larger perturbations. Exciting these tides comes at the expense of the star’s orbital energy, which leads to the naive conclusion that a smaller pericentre (i.e. a closer encounter between the star and SMBH) always yields a more tightly bound star to the SMBH. However, once the pericentre distance is small enough that the star is partially disrupted, morphological asymmetries in the mass lost by the star can yield an increase in the orbital energy of the surviving core, resulting in its ejection – not capture – by the SMBH. Using smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations, we show that the combination of these two effects – tidal excitation and asymmetric mass-loss – results in a maximum amount of energy lost through tides of $\sim 2.5{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ of the binding energy of the star, which is significantly smaller than the theoretical maximum of the total stellar binding energy. This result implies that stars that are repeatedly partially disrupted by SMBHs many (≳10) times on short-period orbits (≲few years), as has been invoked to explain the periodic nuclear transient ASASSN-14ko and quasi-periodic eruptions, must be bound to the SMBH through a mechanism other than tidal capture, such as a dynamical exchange (i.e. Hills capture).
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Abstract A star completely destroyed in a tidal disruption event (TDE) ignites a luminous flare that is powered by the fallback of tidally stripped debris to a supermassive black hole (SMBH) of mass
M •. We analyze two estimates for the peak fallback rate in a TDE, one being the “frozen-in” model, which predicts a strong dependence of the time to peak fallback rate,t peak, on both stellar mass and age, with 15 days ≲t peak≲ 10 yr for main sequence stars with masses 0.2 ≤M ⋆/M ⊙≤ 5 andM •= 106M ⊙. The second estimate, which postulates that the star is completely destroyed when tides dominate the maximum stellar self-gravity, predicts thatt peakis very weakly dependent on stellar type, with for 0.2 ≤M ⋆/M ⊙≤ 5, while for a Kroupa initial mass function truncated at 1.5M ⊙. This second estimate also agrees closely with hydrodynamical simulations, while the frozen-in model is discrepant by orders of magnitude. We conclude that (1) the time to peak luminosity in complete TDEs is almost exclusively determined by SMBH mass, and (2) massive-star TDEs power the largest accretion luminosities. Consequently, (a) decades-long extra-galactic outbursts cannot be powered by complete TDEs, including massive-star disruptions, and (b) the most highly super-Eddington TDEs are powered by the complete disruption of massive stars, which—if responsible for producing jetted TDEs—would explain the rarity of jetted TDEs and their preference for young and star-forming host galaxies.