AT2023lli: A Tidal Disruption Event with Prominent Optical Early Bump and Delayed Episodic X-ray Emission

TL;DR

This study presents detailed multiwavelength observations of TDE AT2023lli, revealing a unique early optical bump, rapid decay, and episodic X-ray emission, providing new insights into the complex physics of tidal disruption events.

Contribution

The paper reports the discovery of a long-separated optical bump and episodic X-ray emission in TDE AT2023lli, offering new evidence for stream self-intersection and inhomogeneous reprocessing in TDEs.

Findings

Longest separation time between bump and peak among known TDEs

Fast optical decay with a $t^{-4.10}$ decline rate

Detection of sporadic X-ray emission post-peak

Abstract

High-cadence, multiwavelength observations have continuously revealed the diversity of tidal disruption events (TDEs), thus greatly advancing our knowledge and understanding of TDEs. In this work, we conducted an intensive optical-UV and X-ray follow-up campaign of TDE AT2023lli, and found a remarkable month-long bump in its UV/optical light curve nearly two months prior to maximum brightness. The bump represents the longest separation time from the main peak among known TDEs to date. The main UV/optical outburst declines as $t^{-4.10}$, making it one of the fastest decaying optically selected TDEs. Furthermore, we detected sporadic X-ray emission 30 days after the UV/optical peak, accompanied by a reduction in the period of inactivity. It is proposed that the UV/optical bump could be caused by the self-intersection of the stream debris, whereas the primary peak is generated by the reprocessed emission of the accretion process. In addition, our results suggest that episodic X-ray radiation during the initial phase of decline may be due to the patched obscurer surrounding the accretion disk, a phenomenon associated with the inhomogeneous reprocessing process. The double TDE scenario, in which two stars are disrupted in sequence, is also a possible explanation for producing the observed early bump and main peak. We anticipate that the multicolor light curves of TDEs, especially in the very early stages, and the underlying physics can be better understood in the near future with the assistance of dedicated surveys such as the deep high-cadence survey of the 2.5-meter Wide Field Survey Telescope (WFST).