Computer Science – Graphics
Scientific paper
Jan 2010
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010aas...21548202c&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #215, #482.02; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 42, p.573
Computer Science
Graphics
Scientific paper
We model the electromagnetic emission from a tidally disrupted 0.55 M&sun; white dwarf (WD) in a bound orbit around a moderately massive, 104 M&sun; black hole (BH). With such a combination of masses, the WD is disrupted outside the BH event horizon and produces a distinctive electromagnetic counterpart to the gravitational waves emitted during the inspiral. Both signals will be observable to distances of order 100 Mpc by the next generation of X-ray/optilcal observatories and the planned Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). Thus we will be able to probe the demographics of moderately massive BHs and the WD equation of state. The dynamics of the tidal disruption are simulated using a modified version of the tree smoothed particle hydrodynamics code GADGET-2. The simulations show that the debris settles into a steady, axisymmetric disk eleven hours after the WD is tidally disrupted and accretion begins after 26 hours. The accretion rate remains steady at dM/dt = 2.8 X 10-3 M&sun;/ yr until our simulations end, 52 days after the WD is tidally disrupted. We assume that the potential energy of the accreted material is converted into radiation with an efficiency of 10%, and that this radiation, which has a spectral energy distribution (SED) similar to that of an active galactic nucleus, illuminates the rest of the disk. With these assumptions, the electromagnetic signature is modeled using the photoionization code Cloudy. The optical spectrum is dominated by continuum emission from accretion onto the black hole. There are, however, weak, but possibly discernible, X-ray emission lines due to C and O, the strongest of which is the O VIII Kα line with an equivalent width of 3.5 - 7.0 eV, depending on the SED of the ionizing radiation.
Clausen Drew R.
Eracleous Michael
Sesana Alberto
Sigurdsson Steinn
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