http://arxiv.org/abs/1909.10523
We study properties of the emission from thermonuclear explosions in a helium white dwarf (WD) tidal disruption event (TDE). The helium WD is not only tidally disrupted but is detonated by the tidal compression and by succeeding shocks. We focus on the emission powered by radioactive nuclei in the unbound ejecta of the TDE debris. We consider a TDE where a 0.2$\,\mathrm{M}{\odot}$ helium WD is disrupted by a $10^{2.5}\,\mathrm{M}{\odot}$ intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH). We perform hydrodynamic simulations coupled with nuclear reactions, post-process detailed nucleosynthesis calculations, and then radiative transfer simulations. We thus derive multi-band light curves and spectra. The helium WD TDE shows rapid ($\Delta t_{1\mathrm{mag}}\simeq5\text{-}10\,$d) and relatively faint ($L_{\mathrm{peak}}\simeq10^{42}\,\mathrm{erg}\,\mathrm{s}^{-1}$) light curves, because the ejecta mass and $^{56}$Ni mass are low ($0.12\,\mathrm{M}{\odot}$ and $0.03\,\mathrm{M}{\odot}$, respectively). The spectra show strong calcium and Fe-peak features and very weak silicon features, reflecting the peculiar elemental abundance. The key feature is the Doppler shift of the spectral lines up to $\simeq\pm12,000\,\mathrm{km}\,\mathrm{s}^{-1}$, depending on the viewing angle, due to the bulk motion of the ejecta. Our model matches well with some rapid transients. The particular model presented here does not match with observed supernovae Iax, calcium-rich transients, nor .Ia explosion candidates, either in the spectra or light curves. However, we expect a large variety of the observational signatures once a wide range of the WD/BH masses and orbital parameters are considered. This study helps to search for WD TDEs with current and upcoming surveys, and to identify IMBHs as disrupters in the TDEs.
K. Kawana, K. Maeda, N. Yoshida, et. al.
Wed, 25 Sep 19
52/70
Comments: 8 pages, 5 figures, submitted to ApJL
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