Tidal Disruption Encores
Nuclear star clusters (NSCs), made up of a dense concentration of stars and the compact objects they leave behind, are ubiquitous in the central regions of galaxies surrounding the central supermassive black hole (SMBH). Close interactions between stars and stellar-mass black holes (sBHs) lead to ti...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2024-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad3946 |
| _version_ | 1827280658213371904 |
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| author | Taeho Ryu Rosalba Perna Matteo Cantiello |
| author_facet | Taeho Ryu Rosalba Perna Matteo Cantiello |
| author_sort | Taeho Ryu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Nuclear star clusters (NSCs), made up of a dense concentration of stars and the compact objects they leave behind, are ubiquitous in the central regions of galaxies surrounding the central supermassive black hole (SMBH). Close interactions between stars and stellar-mass black holes (sBHs) lead to tidal disruption events (TDEs). We uncover an interesting new phenomenon: for a subset of these, the unbound debris (to the sBH) remains bound to the SMBH, accreting at a later time, thus giving rise to a second flare. We compute the rate of such events and find them ranging within 10 ^−6 –10 ^−3 yr ^−1 gal ^−1 for SMBH mass ≃10 ^6 –10 ^9 M _⊙ . Time delays between the two flares spread over a wide range, from less than a year to hundreds of years. The temporal evolution of the light curves of the second flare can vary between the standard t ^−5/3 power law to much steeper decays, providing a natural explanation for observed light curves in tension with the classical TDE model. Our predictions have implications for learning about NSC properties and calibrating its sBH population. Some double flares may be electromagnetic counterparts to LISA extreme-mass-ratio inspiral sources. Another important implication is the possible existence of TDE-like events in very massive SMBHs, where TDEs are not expected. Such flares can affect spin measurements relying on TDEs in the upper SMBH range. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T08:44:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d3f6ebfcdb13425ebcaf225acc985e06 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2041-8205 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T08:44:44Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-d3f6ebfcdb13425ebcaf225acc985e062024-04-16T14:35:25ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal Letters2041-82052024-01-019652L2510.3847/2041-8213/ad3946Tidal Disruption EncoresTaeho Ryu0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2012-5217Rosalba Perna1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3635-5677Matteo Cantiello2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8171-8596The Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics , Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 1, Garching, 85748, Germany ; tryu@mpa-garching.mpg.de; Physics and Astronomy Department, Johns Hopkins University , Baltimore, MD 21218, USADepartment of Physics and Astronomy, Stony Brook University , Stony Brook, NY 11794-3800, USA; Center for Computational Astrophysics , Flatiron Institute, New York, NY 10010, USACenter for Computational Astrophysics , Flatiron Institute, New York, NY 10010, USANuclear star clusters (NSCs), made up of a dense concentration of stars and the compact objects they leave behind, are ubiquitous in the central regions of galaxies surrounding the central supermassive black hole (SMBH). Close interactions between stars and stellar-mass black holes (sBHs) lead to tidal disruption events (TDEs). We uncover an interesting new phenomenon: for a subset of these, the unbound debris (to the sBH) remains bound to the SMBH, accreting at a later time, thus giving rise to a second flare. We compute the rate of such events and find them ranging within 10 ^−6 –10 ^−3 yr ^−1 gal ^−1 for SMBH mass ≃10 ^6 –10 ^9 M _⊙ . Time delays between the two flares spread over a wide range, from less than a year to hundreds of years. The temporal evolution of the light curves of the second flare can vary between the standard t ^−5/3 power law to much steeper decays, providing a natural explanation for observed light curves in tension with the classical TDE model. Our predictions have implications for learning about NSC properties and calibrating its sBH population. Some double flares may be electromagnetic counterparts to LISA extreme-mass-ratio inspiral sources. Another important implication is the possible existence of TDE-like events in very massive SMBHs, where TDEs are not expected. Such flares can affect spin measurements relying on TDEs in the upper SMBH range.https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad3946Time domain astronomyStellar mass black holesSupermassive black holesTidal disruption |
| spellingShingle | Taeho Ryu Rosalba Perna Matteo Cantiello Tidal Disruption Encores The Astrophysical Journal Letters Time domain astronomy Stellar mass black holes Supermassive black holes Tidal disruption |
| title | Tidal Disruption Encores |
| title_full | Tidal Disruption Encores |
| title_fullStr | Tidal Disruption Encores |
| title_full_unstemmed | Tidal Disruption Encores |
| title_short | Tidal Disruption Encores |
| title_sort | tidal disruption encores |
| topic | Time domain astronomy Stellar mass black holes Supermassive black holes Tidal disruption |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad3946 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT taehoryu tidaldisruptionencores AT rosalbaperna tidaldisruptionencores AT matteocantiello tidaldisruptionencores |