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Tidal Disruption Events (TDEs): Progress, Open Questions, and Prospects

Tidal Disruption Events (TDEs): Progress, Open Questions, and Prospects

Monday, November 4, 2024 at 4:00 pm
Weinger 328
Yvette Cendes, University of Oregon

A tidal disruption event (TDE) occurs when an ill-fated star wanders too close to a supermassive black hole (SMBH), and is torn apart by tidal forces. TDE observations offer a unique laboratory to measure SMBH masses and to study super-Eddington accretion and associated outflows. In radio wavelengths, observations can allow us to probe the environment around previously-dormant SMBHs, as well as the physical properties of the outflow itself. Recently, it has become apparent that some TDEs can indeed exhibit delayed onset of radio emission, and up to half of all TDEs show radio emission several hundred days post-disruption despite not showing earlier radio emission. For example, in the recent case of AT2018hyz, it appears the outflow began several hundred days post-disruption, with a velocity up to half the speed of light. In this talk, I will first give an overview of the TDE phenomenon, with a focus on radio observations to date at late times in particular. I will also cover new results from a radio survey using the VLA and MeerKAT of ~25 TDEs >2 years post-disruption, which did not exhibit radio emission at early times. I will also discuss the physical properties of radio-bright TDEs at late times, and implications for the density profile surrounding SMBHs.

Jeffrey Hazboun