The Multi-Wavelength Context of Delayed Radio Emission in TDEs: Evidence for Accretion-Driven Outflows

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Alexander, Kate D., Margutti, Raffaella, Gomez, Sebastian, Stroh, Michael, Chornock, Ryan, Laskar, Tanmoy, Cendes, Y., Berger, Edo, Eftekhari, Tarraneh, Franz, Noah, Hajela, Aprajita, Metzger, B. D., Terreran, Giacomo, Bietenholz, Michael, Christy, Collin, de Colle, Fabio, Komossa, S., Nicholl, Matt, Ramirez-Ruiz, Enrico, Saxton, Richard, Schroeder, Genevieve, Williams, Peter K. G., Wu, William
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2025
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author Alexander, Kate D.
Margutti, Raffaella
Gomez, Sebastian
Stroh, Michael
Chornock, Ryan
Laskar, Tanmoy
Cendes, Y.
Berger, Edo
Eftekhari, Tarraneh
Franz, Noah
Hajela, Aprajita
Metzger, B. D.
Terreran, Giacomo
Bietenholz, Michael
Christy, Collin
de Colle, Fabio
Komossa, S.
Nicholl, Matt
Ramirez-Ruiz, Enrico
Saxton, Richard
Schroeder, Genevieve
Williams, Peter K. G.
Wu, William
author_facet Alexander, Kate D.
Margutti, Raffaella
Gomez, Sebastian
Stroh, Michael
Chornock, Ryan
Laskar, Tanmoy
Cendes, Y.
Berger, Edo
Eftekhari, Tarraneh
Franz, Noah
Hajela, Aprajita
Metzger, B. D.
Terreran, Giacomo
Bietenholz, Michael
Christy, Collin
de Colle, Fabio
Komossa, S.
Nicholl, Matt
Ramirez-Ruiz, Enrico
Saxton, Richard
Schroeder, Genevieve
Williams, Peter K. G.
Wu, William
contents Recent observations presented in Cendes et al. (2024a) show that optically selected tidal disruption events (TDEs) commonly produce delayed radio emission that can peak years post-disruption. Here, we explore the multi-wavelength properties of a sample of radio-observed optically selected TDEs to shed light on the physical process(es) responsible for the late-rising radio emission. We combine new late-time X-ray observations with archival optical, UV, X-ray, and radio data to conclude that a diversity of accretion-driven outflows may power delayed radio emission in TDEs. Our analysis suggests that some late radio outflows may be launched by a delayed phase of super-Eddington accretion onto the central supermassive black hole (SMBH), while others may result from a state transition to a ``low-hard'' radiatively inefficient accretion flow or the deceleration of an off-axis relativistic jet. We find that TDEs with delayed radio emission are less likely to exhibit helium emission lines at early times ($p=0.002$) and may have larger optical/UV photospheric radii ($p=0.026$) than other TDEs, possibly also indicating that the onset of SMBH accretion is delayed in these systems. Our results have implications for our understanding of state changes in SMBH accretion flows, the circularization timescale for TDE debris, and the prevalence of off-axis jets in TDEs, and motivate systematic, long-term monitoring of these unique transients. The objects in our sample with the brightest radio emission are also detected in the VLA Sky Survey (VLASS), demonstrating that all-sky radio surveys can play an important role in discovering unexpected properties of the TDE population.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_12729
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The Multi-Wavelength Context of Delayed Radio Emission in TDEs: Evidence for Accretion-Driven Outflows
Alexander, Kate D.
Margutti, Raffaella
Gomez, Sebastian
Stroh, Michael
Chornock, Ryan
Laskar, Tanmoy
Cendes, Y.
Berger, Edo
Eftekhari, Tarraneh
Franz, Noah
Hajela, Aprajita
Metzger, B. D.
Terreran, Giacomo
Bietenholz, Michael
Christy, Collin
de Colle, Fabio
Komossa, S.
Nicholl, Matt
Ramirez-Ruiz, Enrico
Saxton, Richard
Schroeder, Genevieve
Williams, Peter K. G.
Wu, William
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Recent observations presented in Cendes et al. (2024a) show that optically selected tidal disruption events (TDEs) commonly produce delayed radio emission that can peak years post-disruption. Here, we explore the multi-wavelength properties of a sample of radio-observed optically selected TDEs to shed light on the physical process(es) responsible for the late-rising radio emission. We combine new late-time X-ray observations with archival optical, UV, X-ray, and radio data to conclude that a diversity of accretion-driven outflows may power delayed radio emission in TDEs. Our analysis suggests that some late radio outflows may be launched by a delayed phase of super-Eddington accretion onto the central supermassive black hole (SMBH), while others may result from a state transition to a ``low-hard'' radiatively inefficient accretion flow or the deceleration of an off-axis relativistic jet. We find that TDEs with delayed radio emission are less likely to exhibit helium emission lines at early times ($p=0.002$) and may have larger optical/UV photospheric radii ($p=0.026$) than other TDEs, possibly also indicating that the onset of SMBH accretion is delayed in these systems. Our results have implications for our understanding of state changes in SMBH accretion flows, the circularization timescale for TDE debris, and the prevalence of off-axis jets in TDEs, and motivate systematic, long-term monitoring of these unique transients. The objects in our sample with the brightest radio emission are also detected in the VLA Sky Survey (VLASS), demonstrating that all-sky radio surveys can play an important role in discovering unexpected properties of the TDE population.
title The Multi-Wavelength Context of Delayed Radio Emission in TDEs: Evidence for Accretion-Driven Outflows
topic High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.12729