http://arxiv.org/abs/1712.02799
We present a Chandra observation of SN 2016hnk, a candidate Ca-rich gap transient. This observation was specifically designed to test whether or not this transient was the result of the tidal detonation of a white dwarf by an intermediate-mass black hole. Since we detect no X-ray emission 28 days after the discovery of the transient, as predicted from fall-back accretion, we rule out this model. Our upper limit of $\sim 10$ M$_\odot$ does not allow us to rule out a neutron star or stellar-mass black hole detonator due limits on the sensitivity of Chandra to soft X-rays and unconstrained variables tied to the structure of super-Eddington accretion disks. Together with other Chandra and multiwavelength observations, our analysis strongly argues against the intermediate-mass black hole tidal detonation scenario for Ca-rich gap transients more generally.
P. Sell, K. Arur, T. Maccarone, et. al.
Mon, 11 Dec 17
8/62
Comments: 5 pages, 1 figure, submitted to MNRAS letters
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