A Formation Crisis of Repeating Partial Tidal Disruption Events

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Pan, Zhen, Lai, Dong
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2026
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author Pan, Zhen
Lai, Dong
author_facet Pan, Zhen
Lai, Dong
contents A number of candidate repeating partial tidal disruption events (rpTDEs) have been reported in recent years. If these events are confirmed, the high fraction of observed rpTDEs among all tidal disruption events (TDEs) is in tension with prediction of the loss cone channel. We further point out an inequality $M_\bullet \lesssim 4\times 10^6 M_\odot (T_{\rm obt}/10\ {\rm yr})^{4/9}$ that must be satisfied for rpTDEs of solar type stars in the loss cone channel, where $M_\bullet$ is the central supermassive black hole (SMBH) mass and $T_{\rm obt}$ is the orbital period of the star. However the majority of reported rpTDE candidates potentially violate this inequality, indicating an alternative formation channel. In the commonly invoked Hills mechanism, the captured stars produced by tidal disruption of near-contact binaries can evade this inequality and may be the dominant source of rpTDEs. If the same process operates in the Galactic Center, there should exist a population of hypervelocity stars (HVSs) ejected with velocities as high as $3.6\times 10^3 (M_\bullet/10^6 M_\odot)^{1/6}\ {\rm km\ s}^{-1}$, which however have not been detected. A complete search for HVSs in the Milky Way will be critical for testing this prediction.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_22465
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A Formation Crisis of Repeating Partial Tidal Disruption Events
Pan, Zhen
Lai, Dong
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
A number of candidate repeating partial tidal disruption events (rpTDEs) have been reported in recent years. If these events are confirmed, the high fraction of observed rpTDEs among all tidal disruption events (TDEs) is in tension with prediction of the loss cone channel. We further point out an inequality $M_\bullet \lesssim 4\times 10^6 M_\odot (T_{\rm obt}/10\ {\rm yr})^{4/9}$ that must be satisfied for rpTDEs of solar type stars in the loss cone channel, where $M_\bullet$ is the central supermassive black hole (SMBH) mass and $T_{\rm obt}$ is the orbital period of the star. However the majority of reported rpTDE candidates potentially violate this inequality, indicating an alternative formation channel. In the commonly invoked Hills mechanism, the captured stars produced by tidal disruption of near-contact binaries can evade this inequality and may be the dominant source of rpTDEs. If the same process operates in the Galactic Center, there should exist a population of hypervelocity stars (HVSs) ejected with velocities as high as $3.6\times 10^3 (M_\bullet/10^6 M_\odot)^{1/6}\ {\rm km\ s}^{-1}$, which however have not been detected. A complete search for HVSs in the Milky Way will be critical for testing this prediction.
title A Formation Crisis of Repeating Partial Tidal Disruption Events
topic High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.22465