The dynamics, appearance and demographics of relativistic jets triggered by tidal disruption of stars in quiescent supermassive black holes

TL;DR

This paper models how tidal disruptions of stars in quiescent supermassive black holes can trigger relativistic jets, explaining observed phenomena like Swift 1644+57 through detailed hydrodynamic simulations and environmental analysis.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive hydrodynamic model of jet formation and propagation following stellar tidal disruptions in quiescent galactic nuclei, accounting for environmental effects and variability.

Findings

The model reproduces the X-ray light curve of Swift 1644+57.

Jet properties depend on the ambient medium and accretion history.

Disruption events are common enough to explain observed jet-driven flares.

Abstract

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. 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 $10^6 M_\odot$ central mass black hole following the disruption of 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. [abridged]