THE DYNAMICS, APPEARANCE, AND DEMOGRAPHICS OF RELATIVISTIC JETS TRIGGERED BY TIDAL DISRUPTION OF STARS IN QUIESCENT SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLES
- TASC, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States)
We examine the consequences of a model in which relativistic jets can be triggered in quiescent massive black holes when a geometrically thick and hot accretion disk forms as a result of the tidal disruption of a star. To estimate the power, thrust, and lifetime of the jet, we use the mass accretion history onto the black hole as calculated by detailed hydrodynamic simulations of the tidal disruption of stars. We go on to determine the states of the interstellar medium in various types of quiescent galactic nuclei, and describe how this external matter can affect jets propagating through it. We use this information, together with a two-dimensional hydrodynamic model of the structure of the relativistic flow, to study the dynamics of the jet, the propagation of which is regulated by the density stratification of the environment and by its injection history. The breaking of symmetry involved in transitioning from one to two dimensions is crucial and leads to qualitatively new phenomena. At early times, as the jet power increases, the high pressure of the cocoon collimates the jet, increasing its shock velocity as compared to that of spherical models. We show that small velocity gradients, induced near or at the source, steepen into internal shocks and provide a source of free energy for particle acceleration and radiation along the jet's channel. The jets terminate at a working surface where they interact strongly with the surrounding medium through a combination of shock waves and instabilities; a continuous flow of relativistic fluid emanating from the nucleus supplies this region with mass, momentum, and energy. Information about the t {sup -5/3} decrease in power supply propagates within the jet at the internal sound speed. As a result, the internal energy at the jet head continues to accumulate until long after the peak feeding rate is reached. An appreciable time delay is thus expected between peaks in the short-wavelength radiation emanating near the jet's origin and the long-wavelength emission produced at the head of the jet. Many of the observed properties of the Swift 1644+57/GRB 110328A event can be understood as resulting from accretion onto and jets driven by a 10{sup 6} M {sub Sun} central mass black hole following the disruption of a sun-like star. With the inclusion of a stochastic contribution to the luminosity due to variations in the feeding rate driven by instabilities near the tidal radius, we find that our model can explain the X-ray light curve without invoking a rarely occurring deep encounter. In conjunction with the number density of black holes in the local universe, we hypothesize that the conditions required to produce the Swift event are not anomalous, but are in fact representative of the jet-driven flare population arising from tidal disruptions.
- OSTI ID:
- 22086255
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 760, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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