Double tidal disruptions in galactic nuclei

Abstract

A star on a nearly radial trajectory approaching a massive black hole (MBH) gets tidally disrupted if it comes sufficiently close to the MBH. Here we explore what happens to binary stars whose centers of mass approach the MBH on nearly radial orbits. The interaction with the MBH often leads to both stars being disrupted in sequence. We argue that such events could produce light curves that are substantially different from those of the single disruptions, with possible features such as two local maxima. Tidal forces from the MBH can also lead the binary components to collide; these merger products can form highly magnetized stars, whose subsequent tidal disruption may enable prompt jet formation.

Published version; minor revisions

References in corpus (6)

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• The Initial Mass Function in the Extended Ultraviolet Disk of M83
• Modified evolution of stellar binaries from supermassive black hole binaries
• Using the Hills Mechanism to Generate Repeating Partial Tidal Disruption Events and ASASSN-14ko