Tidal Stripping of a White Dwarf by an Intermediate-mass Black Hole
During the inspiralling of a white dwarf (WD) into an intermediate-mass black hole (∼10 ^2−5 M _⊙ ), both gravitational waves (GWs) and electromagnetic (EM) radiation are emitted. Once the eccentric orbit’s pericenter radius approaches the tidal radius, the WD would be tidally stripped upon each per...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2023-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acbfb6 |
| _version_ | 1797695810179170304 |
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| author | Jin-Hong Chen Rong-Feng Shen Shang-Fei Liu |
| author_facet | Jin-Hong Chen Rong-Feng Shen Shang-Fei Liu |
| author_sort | Jin-Hong Chen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | During the inspiralling of a white dwarf (WD) into an intermediate-mass black hole (∼10 ^2−5 M _⊙ ), both gravitational waves (GWs) and electromagnetic (EM) radiation are emitted. Once the eccentric orbit’s pericenter radius approaches the tidal radius, the WD would be tidally stripped upon each pericenter passage. The accretion of this stripped mass would produce EM radiation. It is suspected that the recently discovered new types of transients, namely the quasiperiodic eruptions and the fast ultraluminous x-ray bursts, might originate from such systems. Modeling these flares requires a prediction of the amount of stripped mass from the WD and the details of the mass supply to the accretion disk. We run hydrodynamical simulations to study the orbital parameter dependence of the stripped mass. We find that our results match the analytical estimate that the stripped mass is proportional to z ^5/2 , where z is the excess depth by which the WD overfills its instantaneous Roche lobe at the pericenter. The corresponding fallback rate of the stripped mass is calculated, which may be useful in interpreting the individual flaring light curve in candidate EM sources. We further calculate the long-term mass-loss evolution of a WD during its inspiral and the detectability of the GW and EM signals. The EM signal from the mass-loss stage can be easily detected: the limiting distance is ∼320( M _h /10 ^4 M _⊙ ) Mpc for the Einstein Probe. The GW signal, for space-borne detectors such as Laser Interferometer Space Antenna or TianQin, can be detected only within the Local Supercluster (∼33 Mpc). |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T03:17:34Z |
| format | Article |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T03:17:34Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-f05ca4db37174b998c576d1752bc829e2023-09-03T14:08:28ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572023-01-0194713210.3847/1538-4357/acbfb6Tidal Stripping of a White Dwarf by an Intermediate-mass Black HoleJin-Hong Chen0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3525-791XRong-Feng Shen1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5012-2362Shang-Fei Liu2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9442-137XSchool of Physics and Astronomy, Sun Yat-sen University , Zhuhai 519082, People's Republic of China ; shenrf3@mail.sysu.edu.cnSchool of Physics and Astronomy, Sun Yat-sen University , Zhuhai 519082, People's Republic of China ; shenrf3@mail.sysu.edu.cn; CSST Science Center for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area , Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai 519082, People's Republic of China liushangfei@mail.sysu.edu.cnSchool of Physics and Astronomy, Sun Yat-sen University , Zhuhai 519082, People's Republic of China ; shenrf3@mail.sysu.edu.cn; CSST Science Center for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area , Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai 519082, People's Republic of China liushangfei@mail.sysu.edu.cnDuring the inspiralling of a white dwarf (WD) into an intermediate-mass black hole (∼10 ^2−5 M _⊙ ), both gravitational waves (GWs) and electromagnetic (EM) radiation are emitted. Once the eccentric orbit’s pericenter radius approaches the tidal radius, the WD would be tidally stripped upon each pericenter passage. The accretion of this stripped mass would produce EM radiation. It is suspected that the recently discovered new types of transients, namely the quasiperiodic eruptions and the fast ultraluminous x-ray bursts, might originate from such systems. Modeling these flares requires a prediction of the amount of stripped mass from the WD and the details of the mass supply to the accretion disk. We run hydrodynamical simulations to study the orbital parameter dependence of the stripped mass. We find that our results match the analytical estimate that the stripped mass is proportional to z ^5/2 , where z is the excess depth by which the WD overfills its instantaneous Roche lobe at the pericenter. The corresponding fallback rate of the stripped mass is calculated, which may be useful in interpreting the individual flaring light curve in candidate EM sources. We further calculate the long-term mass-loss evolution of a WD during its inspiral and the detectability of the GW and EM signals. The EM signal from the mass-loss stage can be easily detected: the limiting distance is ∼320( M _h /10 ^4 M _⊙ ) Mpc for the Einstein Probe. The GW signal, for space-borne detectors such as Laser Interferometer Space Antenna or TianQin, can be detected only within the Local Supercluster (∼33 Mpc).https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acbfb6Hydrodynamical simulationsIntermediate-mass black holesTidal disruptionRoche lobe overflowGravitational wave sourcesX-ray transient sources |
| spellingShingle | Jin-Hong Chen Rong-Feng Shen Shang-Fei Liu Tidal Stripping of a White Dwarf by an Intermediate-mass Black Hole The Astrophysical Journal Hydrodynamical simulations Intermediate-mass black holes Tidal disruption Roche lobe overflow Gravitational wave sources X-ray transient sources |
| title | Tidal Stripping of a White Dwarf by an Intermediate-mass Black Hole |
| title_full | Tidal Stripping of a White Dwarf by an Intermediate-mass Black Hole |
| title_fullStr | Tidal Stripping of a White Dwarf by an Intermediate-mass Black Hole |
| title_full_unstemmed | Tidal Stripping of a White Dwarf by an Intermediate-mass Black Hole |
| title_short | Tidal Stripping of a White Dwarf by an Intermediate-mass Black Hole |
| title_sort | tidal stripping of a white dwarf by an intermediate mass black hole |
| topic | Hydrodynamical simulations Intermediate-mass black holes Tidal disruption Roche lobe overflow Gravitational wave sources X-ray transient sources |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acbfb6 |
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