Optical-Ultraviolet Tidal Disruption Events

TL;DR

This paper reviews optical-ultraviolet Tidal Disruption Events (TDEs), analyzing 33 robust cases, discussing their properties, classification criteria, and rates, highlighting their significance for understanding accretion physics and galaxy evolution.

Contribution

It provides a homogeneous analysis and classification of optical-ultraviolet TDEs, updating criteria and summarizing their rates, which advances understanding of these events and their diversity.

Findings

Identified 33 robust optical-ultraviolet TDEs with shared properties

Classified TDEs into distinct categories based on analysis

Summarized current measurements of TDE rates and distributions

Abstract

The existence of optical-ultraviolet Tidal Disruption Events (TDEs) could be considered surprising because their electromagnetic output was originally predicted to be dominated by X-ray emission from an accretion disk. Yet over the last decade, the growth of optical transient surveys has led to the identification of a new class of optical transients occurring exclusively in galaxy centers, many of which are considered to be TDEs. Here we review the observed properties of these events, identified based on a shared set of both photometric and spectroscopic properties. We present a homogeneous analysis of 33 sources that we classify as robust TDEs, and which we divide into classes. The criteria used here to classify TDEs will possibly get updated as new samples are collected and potential additional diversity of TDEs is revealed. We also summarize current measurements of the optical-ultraviolet TDE rate, as well as the mass function and luminosity function. Many open questions exist regarding the current sample of events. We anticipate that the search for answers will unlock new insights in a variety of fields, from accretion physics to galaxy evolution.