SWIFT J1644+57: A WHITE DWARF TIDALLY DISRUPTED BY A 104 M ☉ BLACK HOLE?

@article{Krolik2011SWIFTJA,
  title={SWIFT J1644+57: A WHITE DWARF TIDALLY DISRUPTED BY A 104 M ☉ BLACK HOLE?},
  author={Julian H. Krolik and Tsvi Piran},
  journal={The Astrophysical Journal},
  year={2011},
  volume={743},
  pages={134}
}
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… Expand
View PDF on arXiv
77 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
8
Background Citations
59
Methods Citations
4
Results Citations
3

Figures from this paper

77 Citations

Citation Type

Citation Type

Swift J1644+57 gone MAD: the case for dynamically-important magnetic flux threading the black hole in a jetted tidal disruption event
The unusual transient Swift J1644+57 likely resulted from a collimated relativistic jet, powered by the sudden onset of accretion onto a massive black hole (BH) following the tidal disruption (TD) of… Expand
GRB060218 as a Tidal Disruption of a White Dwarf by an Intermediate-mass Black Hole
A highly unusual pair of a gamma-ray burst (GRB) GRB060218 and an associated supernova SN2006aj has puzzled theorists for years. A supernova shock breakout and a jet from a newborn stellar mass… Expand
Tidal Disruption of a Main-sequence Star by an Intermediate-mass Black Hole: A Bright Decade
There has been suggestive evidence of intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs; 10^{3-5} M_sun) existing in some globular clusters (GCs) and dwarf galaxies, but IMBHs as a population remain elusive. As a… Expand
BLACK HOLE SPIN IN SW J1644+57 AND SW J2058+05
Recently, a hard X-ray transient event, Sw J1644+57, was discovered by the Swift satellite. It likely marks the onset of a relativistic jet from a supermassive black hole (BH), possibly triggered by… Expand
Swift J1112.2−8238: a candidate relativistic tidal disruption flare
We present observations of Swift J1112.2−8238, and identify it as a candidate relativistic tidal disruption flare. The outburst was first detected by Swift/Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) in 2011 June as… Expand
Optical Thermonuclear Transients From Tidal Compression of White Dwarfs as Tracers of the Low End of the Massive Black Hole Mass Function
In this paper, we model the observable signatures of tidal disruptions of white dwarf (WD) stars by massive black holes (MBHs) of moderate mass, $\approx 10^3 - 10^5 M_\odot$. When the WD passes deep… Expand
Illuminating Massive Black Holes With White Dwarfs: Orbital Dynamics and High Energy Transients from Tidal Interactions
White dwarfs (WDs) can be tidally disrupted only by massive black holes (MBHs) with masses less than $\sim10^5 M_\odot$. These tidal interactions feed material to the MBH well above its Eddington… Expand
Fast, Ultraluminous X-Ray Bursts from Tidal Stripping of White Dwarfs by Intermediate-mass Black Holes
  • R. Shen
  • Physics
  • The Astrophysical Journal
  • 2019
Two X-ray sources were recently discovered by Irwin et al. in compact companions to elliptical galaxies to show ultra-luminous flares with fast rise (~ minute) and decay (~ hour), and with a peak… Expand
TIDAL DISRUPTIONS OF WHITE DWARFS FROM ULTRA-CLOSE ENCOUNTERS WITH INTERMEDIATE-MASS SPINNING BLACK HOLES
We present numerical relativity results of tidal disruptions of white dwarfs from ultra-close encounters with a spinning, intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH). These encounters require a full general… Expand
XMMSL1J063045.9-603110: a tidal disruption event fallen into the back burner
Black holes at the centre of quiescent galaxies can be switched on when they accrete gas that is gained from stellar tidal disruptions. A star approaching a black hole on a low angular momentum orbit… Expand
...
1
2
3
4
5
...

References

SHOWING 1-10 OF 33 REFERENCES
ATYPICAL THERMONUCLEAR SUPERNOVAE FROM TIDALLY CRUSHED WHITE DWARFS
Suggestive evidence has accumulated that intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) exist in some globular clusters. As stars diffuse in the cluster, some will inevitable wander sufficiently close to the… Expand
A Possible Relativistic Jetted Outburst from a Massive Black Hole Fed by a Tidally Disrupted Star
TLDR
Observations suggest a sudden accretion event onto a central MBH of mass about 106 to 107 solar masses, which leads to a natural analogy of Sw 1644+57 to a temporary smaller-scale blazar. Expand
WHITE DWARFS NEAR BLACK HOLES: A NEW PARADIGM FOR TYPE I SUPERNOVAE
We present calculations indicating the possibility of a new class of Type I supernovae. In this new paradigm, relativistic terms enhance the self-gravity of a carbon-oxygen white dwarf as it passes… Expand
A Tidal Disruption Flare in A1689 from an Archival X-ray Survey of Galaxy Clusters
Theory suggests that a star making a close passage by a supermassive black hole at the center of a galaxy can under most circumstances be expected to emit a giant flare of radiation as it is… Expand
Relativistically Compressed Exploding White Dwarf Model for Sagittarius A East
Recently, a new mechanism for Type I supernovae has been proposed whereby relativistic terms enhance the self-gravity of a carbon-oxygen white dwarf as it passes near a black hole. It was suggested… Expand
Tidal Disruption of a Solar-Type Star by a Supermassive Black Hole
We study the long-term evolution of a solar-type star that is being disrupted by a supermassive (106 M☉) black hole. The evolution is followed from the disruption event, which turns the star into a… Expand
Relativistic jet activity from the tidal disruption of a star by a massive black hole
TLDR
Observations of a bright X-ray flare from the extragalactic transient Swift J164449.3+573451 conclude that they have captured the onset of relativistic jet activity from a supermassive black hole. Expand
Observing white dwarfs orbiting massive black holes in the gravitational wave and electro-magnetic window
We consider a potentially new class of gravitational wave sources consisting of a white dwarf coalescing into a massive black hole in the mass range � 10 4 10 5 M⊙. These sources are of particular… Expand
Birth of a relativistic outflow in the unusual γ-ray transient Swift J164449.3+573451
TLDR
It is concluded that the tidal disruption of a star naturally explains the observed high-energy properties and radio luminosity and the inferred rate of such events, and the weaker beaming in the radio-frequency spectrum relative to γ-rays or X-rays suggests that radio searches may uncover similar events out to redshifts of z ≈ 6. Expand
UV/OPTICAL DETECTIONS OF CANDIDATE TIDAL DISRUPTION EVENTS BY GALEX AND CFHTLS
We present two luminous UV/optical flares from the nuclei of apparently inactive early-type galaxies at z = 0.37 and 0.33 that have the radiative properties of a flare from the tidal disruption of a… Expand
...
1
2
3
4
...