Black widow formation by pulsar irradiation and sustained magnetic braking

Ginzburg, Sivan; Quataert, Eliot

doi:10.1093/mnras/staa3358

Cited by 20 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…The shock luminosity also causes mass loss. Following Ginzburg & Quataert (2021), we find that the ratio of the characteristic particle temperature 𝑇 ch to the virial temperature 𝑇 g is…”

Section: Thermal Ablationmentioning

confidence: 95%

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Starfall: A heavy rain of stars in 'turning on' AGN

McKernan,

Ford,

Cantiello

et al. 2021

Preprint

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As active galactic nuclei (AGN) 'turn on', some stars end up embedded in accretion disks around supermassive black holes (SMBHs) on retrograde orbits. Such stars experience strong headwinds, aerodynamic drag, ablation and orbital evolution on short timescales. Loss of orbital angular momentum in the first ∼ 0.1 Myr of an AGN leads to a heavy rain of stars ('starfall') into the inner disk and onto the SMBH. A large AGN loss cone (𝜃 AGN,lc ) can result from binary scatterings in the inner disk and yield tidal disruption events (TDEs). Signatures of starfall include optical/UV flares that rise in luminosity over time, particularly in the inner disk. If the SMBH mass is 𝑀 SMBH > ∼ 10 8 𝑀 , flares truncate abruptly and the star is swallowed. If 𝑀 SMBH < 10 8 𝑀 , and if the infalling orbit lies within 𝜃 AGN,lc , the flare is followed by a TDE which can be prograde or retrograde relative to the AGN inner disk. Retrograde AGN TDEs are over-luminous and short-lived as in-plane ejecta collide with the inner disk and a lower AGN state follows. Prograde AGN TDEs add angular momentum to inner disk gas and so start off looking like regular TDEs but are followed by an AGN high state. Searches for such flare signatures test models of AGN 'turn on', SMBH mass, as well as disk properties and the embedded population.

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Section: Thermal Ablationmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…which puts the system on the border between their intermediate and cold wind scenarios. The resulting mass flux is given by equation (10) of Ginzburg & Quataert (2021) as…”

Section: Thermal Ablationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Starfall: A heavy rain of stars in 'turning on' AGN

McKernan,

Ford,

Cantiello

et al. 2021

Preprint

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“…However, simulations indicate that the direct evaporation alone cannot be responsible for the formation of most isolated MSPs (Ginzburg & Quataert 2020). Ginzburg & Quataert (2021) propose that the ablation wind when coupled to the companion magnetic field is able to remove orbital angular momentum from the binary through magnetic braking, maintaining a stable Roche-lobe overflow and thus leading to the total evaporation of the companion star. These systems are also excellent laboratories to study a matter-radiation interaction in the lowdensity and high magnetic field regime.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Evidence of intra-binary shock emission from the redback pulsar PSR J1048+2339

Zanon

D’Avanzo

Ridolfi

et al. 2021

A&A

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We present simultaneous multiwavelength observations of the 4.66 ms redback pulsar PSR J1048+2339. We performed phase-resolved spectroscopy with the Very Large Telescope (VLT) searching for signatures of a residual accretion disk or intra-binary shock emission, constraining the companion radial velocity semi-amplitude (K2), and estimating the neutron star mass (MNS). Using the FORS2-VLT intermediate-resolution spectra, we measured a companion velocity of 291 < K2 < 348 km s−1 and a binary mass ratio of 0.209 < q < 0.250. Combining our results for K2 and q, we constrained the mass of the neutron star and the companion to (1.0 < MNS < 1.6) sin−3 i M⊙ and (0.24 < M2 < 0.33) sin−3i M⊙, respectively, where i is the system inclination. The Doppler map of the Hα emission line exhibits a spot feature at the expected position of the companion star and an extended bright spot close to the inner Lagrangian point. We interpret this extended emission as the effect of an intra-binary shock originating from the interaction between the pulsar relativistic wind and the matter leaving the companion star. The mass loss from the secondary star could be either due to Roche-lobe overflow or to the ablation of its outer layer by the energetic pulsar wind. Contrastingly, we find no evidence for an accretion disk. We report on the results of the Sardinia Radio Telescope (SRT) and the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) telescope simultaneous radio observations at three different frequencies (150 MHz, 336 MHz, and 1400 MHz). No pulsed radio signal is found in our search. This is probably due to both scintillation and the presence of material expelled from the system which can cause the absorption of the radio signal at low frequencies. The confirmation of this hypothesis is given by another SRT observation (L-band) taken in 2019, in which a pulsed signal is detected. Finally, we report on an attempt to search for optical pulsations using IFI+Iqueye mounted at the 1.2 m Galileo telescope at the Asiago Observatory.

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“…The shock luminosity also causes mass-loss. Following Ginzburg & Quataert ( 2021 ), we find that the ratio of the characteristic particle temperature T ch to the virial temperature T g is…”

Section: Thermal Ablationmentioning

confidence: 94%

Starfall: a heavy rain of stars in ‘turning on’ AGN

McKernan

Ford

Cantiello

et al. 2022

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

As active galactic nuclei (AGN) ‘turn on’, some stars end up embedded in accretion disks around supermassive black holes (SMBHs) on retrograde orbits. Such stars experience strong headwinds, aerodynamic drag, ablation and orbital evolution on short timescales. Loss of orbital angular momentum in the first ∼0.1 Myr of an AGN leads to a heavy rain of stars (‘starfall’) into the inner disk and on to the SMBH. A large AGN loss cone (θAGN, lc) can result from binary scatterings in the inner disk and yield tidal disruption events (TDEs). Signatures of starfall include optical/UV flares that rise in luminosity over time, particularly in the inner disk. If the SMBH mass is $M_{\rm SMBH} \gtrsim 10^{8}\, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }$, flares truncate abruptly and the star is swallowed. If MSMBH < 108 M⊙, and if the infalling orbit lies within θAGN, lc, the flare is followed by a TDE which can be prograde or retrograde relative to the AGN inner disk. Retrograde AGN TDEs are over-luminous and short-lived as in-plane ejecta collide with the inner disk and a lower AGN state follows. Prograde AGN TDEs add angular momentum to inner disk gas and so start off looking like regular TDEs but are followed by an AGN high state. Searches for such flare signatures test models of AGN ‘turn on’, SMBH mass, as well as disk properties and the embedded population.

show abstract

Black widow formation by pulsar irradiation and sustained magnetic braking

Cited by 20 publications

References 63 publications

Starfall: A heavy rain of stars in 'turning on' AGN

Starfall: A heavy rain of stars in 'turning on' AGN

Evidence of intra-binary shock emission from the redback pulsar PSR J1048+2339

Starfall: a heavy rain of stars in ‘turning on’ AGN

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