The effect of relativistic precession on light curves of tidal disruption events

TL;DR

This study investigates how relativistic precession affects tidal disruption event (TDE) light curves through radiation-hydrodynamic simulations, revealing different observational signatures based on black hole properties and viewing angles.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed simulation-based analysis of relativistic precession effects on TDE light curves, highlighting the influence of black hole mass, spin, and inclination.

Findings

Low-mass black holes produce early peaks with minimal line-of-sight effects.

High-mass black holes cause delayed luminosity peaks due to stream blocking.

Black hole spin and misalignment add complexity but lack clear light curve signatures.

Abstract

The disruption of a star by the tidal forces of a spinning black hole causes the stellar stream to precess affecting the conditions for triggering the tidal disruption event (TDE). In this work, we study the effect that precession imprints on TDE light curves due to the interaction of the TDE wind and luminosity with the stream wrapped around the black hole. We perform two-dimensional radiation-hydrodynamic simulations using the moving-mesh hydrodynamic code JET with its radiation treatment module. We study the impact of black hole mass, accretion efficiency, and inclination between the orbital and spin planes. From our results, we identified two behaviours: $i)$ models with low-mass black holes ($M_\text{h}\sim10^6~\text{M}_{\odot}$), low inclination ($i\sim0$), and low accretion efficiency ($\eta\sim0.01$) show light curves with a short early peak caused by the interaction of the wind with the inner edge of the stream. The line of sight has little effect on the light curve, since the stream covers a small fraction of the solid angle due to the precession occurring in the orbital plane; $ii)$ models with high-mass black holes ($M_\text{h}\gtrsim10^7~\text{M}_{\odot}$), high inclination ($i\sim90^{\circ}$), and high accretion efficiency ($\eta\sim0.1$) produce light curves with luminosity peaks that can be delayed by up to 50-100 d depending on the line of sight due to presence of the precessed stream blocking the radiation in the early phase of the event. Our results show that black hole spin and misalignment do not imprint recognisable features on the light curves but rather can add complications to their analysis.