Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics – High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Scientific paper
2011-06-05
ApJ, 743, 134, 2011
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Accepted for publication in Ap. J
Scientific paper
We propose that the remarkable object Swift J1644+57, in which multiple recurring hard X-ray flares were seen over a span of several days, is a system in which a white dwarf was tidally disrupted by an intermediate mass black hole. Disruption of a white dwarf rather than a main sequence star offers a number of advantages in understanding the multiple, and short, timescales seen in the light curve of this system. In particular, the short internal dynamical timescale of a white dwarf offers a more natural way of understanding the short rise times ($\sim 100$ s) observed. The relatively long intervals between flares ($\sim 5 \times 10^4$ s) may also be readily understood as the period between successive pericenter passages of the remnant white dwarf. In addition, the expected jet power is larger when a white dwarf is disrupted. If this model is correct, the black hole responsible must have mass $\lesssim 10^5 M_{\odot}$.
Krolik Julian H.
Piran Tsvi
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