2018ApJ...867...20C -
Astrophys. J., 867, 20-20 (2018/November-1)
Tidal disruption of a main-sequence star by an intermediate-mass black hole: a bright decade.
CHEN J.-H. and SHEN R.-F.
Abstract (from CDS):
There has been suggestive evidence of intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs; 103–5 M☉) existing in some globular clusters (GCs) and dwarf galaxies, but IMBHs as a population remain elusive. As a main-sequence star passes too close by an IMBH it might be tidally captured and disrupted. We study the long-term accretion and observational consequence of such tidal disruption events. The disruption radius is hundreds to thousands of the BH's Schwarzschild radius, so the circularization of the falling-back debris stream is very inefficient due to weak general relativity effects. Due to this and a high mass fallback rate, the bound debris initially goes through a ∼10 yr long super-Eddington accretion phase. The photospheric emission of the outflow ejected during this phase dominates the observable radiation and peaks in the UV/optical bands with a luminosity of ∼1042 erg s–1. After the accretion rate drops below the Eddington rate, the bolometric luminosity follows the conventional t–5/3 power-law decay, and X-rays from the inner accretion disk start to be seen. Modeling the newly reported IMBH tidal disruption event candidate 3XMM J2150-0551, we find a general consistency between the data and predictions. The search for these luminous, long-term events in GCs and nearby dwarf galaxies could unveil the IMBH population.
Abstract Copyright:
© 2018. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
Journal keyword(s):
accretion, accretion disks - black hole physics - globular clusters: general - stars: solar-type
Simbad objects:
5
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