TY - JOUR
T1 - Stars Crushed by Black Holes. I. On the Energy Distribution of Stellar Debris in Tidal Disruption Events
AU - Norman, S. M.J.
AU - Nixon, C. J.
AU - Coughlin, Eric R.
N1 - Funding Information:
Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the . Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI. EC ∣ H2020 ∣ H2020 Priority Excellent Science ∣ H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) https://doi.org/10.13039/100010665 823823 National Science Foundation (NSF) https://doi.org/10.13039/100000001 AST-2006684 yes � 2021. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.
PY - 2021/12/20
Y1 - 2021/12/20
N2 - The distribution of orbital energies imparted into stellar debris following the close encounter of a star with a supermassive black hole is the principal factor in determining the rate of return of debris to the black hole, and thus in determining the properties of the resulting lightcurves from such events. We present simulations of tidal disruption events for a range of β ≡ r t/r p where r p is the pericenter distance and r t the tidal radius. We perform these simulations at different spatial resolutions to determine the numerical convergence of our models. We compare simulations in which the heating due to shocks is included or excluded from the dynamics. For β ≲ 8, the simulation results are well-converged at sufficiently moderate-to-high spatial resolution, while for β ≳ 8, the breadth of the energy distribution can be grossly exaggerated by insufficient spatial resolution. We find that shock heating plays a non-negligible role only for β ≳ 4, and that typically the effect of shock heating is mild. We show that self-gravity can modify the energy distribution over time after the debris has receded to large distances for all β. Primarily, our results show that across a range of impact parameters, while the shape of the energy distribution varies with β, the width of the energy spread imparted to the bulk of the debris is closely matched to the canonical spread, , for the range of β we have simulated.
AB - The distribution of orbital energies imparted into stellar debris following the close encounter of a star with a supermassive black hole is the principal factor in determining the rate of return of debris to the black hole, and thus in determining the properties of the resulting lightcurves from such events. We present simulations of tidal disruption events for a range of β ≡ r t/r p where r p is the pericenter distance and r t the tidal radius. We perform these simulations at different spatial resolutions to determine the numerical convergence of our models. We compare simulations in which the heating due to shocks is included or excluded from the dynamics. For β ≲ 8, the simulation results are well-converged at sufficiently moderate-to-high spatial resolution, while for β ≳ 8, the breadth of the energy distribution can be grossly exaggerated by insufficient spatial resolution. We find that shock heating plays a non-negligible role only for β ≳ 4, and that typically the effect of shock heating is mild. We show that self-gravity can modify the energy distribution over time after the debris has receded to large distances for all β. Primarily, our results show that across a range of impact parameters, while the shape of the energy distribution varies with β, the width of the energy spread imparted to the bulk of the debris is closely matched to the canonical spread, , for the range of β we have simulated.
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U2 - 10.3847/1538-4357/ac2ee8
DO - 10.3847/1538-4357/ac2ee8
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85122972187
VL - 923
JO - Astrophysical Journal
JF - Astrophysical Journal
SN - 0004-637X
IS - 2
M1 - 184
ER -