arXiv subjects

Debojyoti Garain

Publications and source records attributed to Debojyoti Garain.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Massive Perturbers and Transient Pickup Discs in Disc-Crossing Encounters in OJ 287-like Supermassive Black Hole Binaries

We study the hydrodynamical response of a massive black hole accretion disc punctured by a lower mass black hole on an inclined, eccentric orbit, as motivated by the quasi-periodic outbursts seen in the blazar OJ 287. Using three-dimensional smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations, we explore how the secondary black hole's mass and orbital eccentricity, and the disc thickness and viscosity, affect the time variation of mass accretion onto both black holes. We find that disc-crossing events only lead to significant spikes in the primary black hole's accretion rate when the perturber is quite massive ($q \gtrsim 0.1$) and that such spikes are delayed by roughly a free-fall time ($\sim$ months for OJ 287) after the first disc-crossing. The orbital eccentricity, disc thickness, and viscosity can influence the amplitude and temporal structure of the response; in particular, higher eccentricity causes larger and less delayed delivery of gas to the primary, however the condition $q \gtrsim 0.1$ seems to be robust. We also show that when the secondary is this massive, it generally acquires a "pickup" disc which could produce its own luminous signature. For systems like OJ 287, the secondary pickup disc can contain $10^{2-3} M_\odot$, which if accreted over a timescale comparable to the orbital period can power near-Eddington secondary luminosities with thermal emission peaking in the UV/EUV.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2024

Partial tidal disruption of White Dwarfs in off-equatorial orbits around Kerr black holes

We present the results of a suite of numerical simulations using smoothed particle hydrodynamics to study partial tidal disruption events (TDEs) of white dwarfs (WDs) in off-equatorial orbits in intermediate mass spinning (Kerr) black hole backgrounds. We carry out this analysis for both parabolic and eccentric WD orbits and also take into account possible initial WD spins. Our objective here is to quantify the differences in variables like the mass of the self-bound core, the peak fallback rate of debris and gravitational wave signature in off-equatorial orbits compared to equatorial ones. The analysis is carried out using a hybrid numerical scheme, one which involves integrating the exact Kerr geodesics while adopting a Newtonian formalism for the stellar fluid dynamics, justified by our choice of simulation parameters. We find that the physics of TDEs in off-equatorial orbits present several interesting and novel features due to black hole spin, which in some cases enhances when coupled with the rotation of the WD. However, numerical values of observable quantities in TDEs involving off-equatorial orbits cannot possibly distinguish between such orbits from equatorial ones. We further comment on the genericness of our results and argue that these should extend to a general TDE scenario involving a spinning BH.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2024

Partial tidal disruptions of spinning eccentric white dwarfs by spinning intermediate mass black holes

Intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs, $\sim 10^2-10^5M_{\odot}$) are often dubbed as the missing link between stellar mass ($\lesssim 10^2M_{\odot}$) and super-massive ($\gtrsim 10^{5-6} M_{\odot}$) BHs. Observational signatures of these can result from tidal disruptions of white dwarfs (WDs), which would otherwise be captured as a whole by super-massive BHs. Recent observations indicate that IMBHs might be rapidly spinning, while it is also known that isolated white dwarfs might have large spins, with spin periods of the order of minutes. Here, we aim to understand the effects of ``coupling'' between BH and stellar spin, focussing on the tidal disruption of spinning WDs in the background of spinning IMBHs. Using smoothed particle hydrodynamics, we perform a suite of numerical simulations of partial tidal disruptions, where spinning WDs are in eccentric orbits about spinning IMBHs. We take a hybrid approach, where we integrate the Kerr geodesic equations while being in a regime where we can treat the internal stellar fluid dynamics in the Newtonian limit. The coupling of BH and stellar spin results in distinctive behaviour of mass distribution of debris, compared to non-rotating cases. Further, while late time fallback rates of debris into the BH is unaffected by only BH spin, these have noticeable deviations in the presence of stellar spin, in particular, this causes a broadening of the fallback curves at late times. On the other hand, gravitational wave signatures are unaffected by stellar spin in the parameter regime that we consider.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2023

Fallback rates in partial tidal disruptions of white dwarfs by intermediate mass black holes

Fallback rate of debris after a partial tidal disruption event of a star with an intermediate mass black hole (IMBH) might provide important signatures of such black holes, compared to supermassive ones. Here using smoothed particle hydrodynamics methods, we provide a comprehensive numerical analysis of this phenomenon. We perform numerical simulations of single partial tidal disruptions of solar mass white dwarfs in parabolic orbits, with a non-spinning $10^3M_{\odot}$ IMBH for various values of the impact parameter, and determine the core mass fractions and fallback rates of debris into the IMBH. For supermassive black holes, in a full disruption processes, it is known that the late time fallback rate follows a power law $t^{-5/3}$, whereas for partial disruptions, such a rate has been recently conjectured to saturate to a steeper power law $t^{-9/4}$, independent of the mass of the remnant core. We show here that for IMBHs, partial disruptions significantly alter this conclusion. That is, the fallback rate at late times do not asymptote to a $t^{-9/4}$ power law, and this rate is also a strong function of the core mass. We derive a robust formula for the late time fallback rate as a function of the core mass fraction, that is independent of the white dwarf mass, as we verify numerically by varying the mass of the white dwarf.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2023

Tidal disruption of white dwarfs in a modified gravity theory with SPH

Low energy imprints of modifications to general relativity are often found in pressure balance equations inside stars. These modifications are then amenable to tests via astrophysical phenomena, using observational effects in stellar astrophysics that crucially depend on such equations. One such effect is tidal disruption of stars in the vicinity of black holes. In this paper, using a numerical scheme modelled with smoothed particle hydrodynamics, we study real time tidal disruption of a class of white dwarfs by intermediate-mass black holes, in the low energy limit of a theory of modified gravity that alters the internal physics of white dwarfs, namely the Eddington inspired Born-Infeld theory. In this single parameter extension of general relativity, the mass-radius relation of white dwarfs as well as their tidal disruption radius depend on the modified gravity parameter, and these capture the effect of modifications to general relativity. Our numerical simulations incorporating these show that departure from general relativity in these scenarios might be observationally significant, and should therefore be contrasted with data. In particular, we study observationally relevant physical quantities, i.e., tidal kick velocity and trajectory deviation of the remnant core and fallback rates of the tidal debris in this theory and compare them to the Newtonian limit of general relativity. We also comment on the qualitative differences between the modified gravity theory and one with stellar rotation.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2022

Deviation in stellar trajectory induced by asymmetry in partial tidal disruption

We study partial tidal disruption and present a quantitative analysis of the orbital dynamics of the remnant self-bound core. We perform smoothed particle hydrodynamical simulations to show that partial disruption of a star due to the tidal field of a black hole leads to a jump in the specific orbital energy and angular momentum of the core. It directly leads to deviation in the core's trajectory apart from getting a boost in its velocity. Our analysis shows that the variations in the specific orbital energy and angular momentum are higher when the pericentre distance is lower. We conclude that higher mass asymmetry of the two tidal tails increases the magnitude of the trajectory deviations. Our study reveals that observable deviations are only possible when mass ratio $q \lesssim 10^3 $, which indicates the range of intermediate-mass black holes.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2022

Stable Hydrogen burning limits in rapidly rotating very low mass objects

We present novel effects of uniform rapid stellar rotation on the minimum mass of stable hydrogen burning in very low mass stars, using an analytic model, and relaxing the assumption of spherical symmetry. We obtain an analytic formula for the minimum mass of hydrogen burning as a function of the angular speed of stellar rotation. Further, we show the existence of a maximum mass of stable hydrogen burning in such stars, which is purely an artefact of rapid rotation. The existence of this extremum in mass results in a minimum admissible value of the stellar rotation period $\sim 22$ min, below which a very low mass object does not reach the main sequence, within the ambits of our model. For a given angular speed, we predict a mass range beyond which such an object will not evolve into a main sequence star.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2021

A stellar constraint on Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld gravity from cataclysmic variable binaries

Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld gravity is an important modification of Einstein's general relativity, which can give rise to non-singular cosmologies at the classical level, and avoid the end-stage singularity in a gravitational collapse process. In the Newtonian limit, this theory gives rise to a modified Poisson's equation, as a consequence of which stellar observables acquire model dependent corrections, compared to the ones computed in the low energy limit of general relativity. This can in turn be used to establish astrophysical constraints on the theory. Here, we obtain such a constraint using observational data from cataclysmic variable binaries. In particular, we consider the tidal disruption limit of the secondary star by a white dwarf primary. The Roche lobe filling condition of this secondary star is used to compute stellar observables in the modified gravity theory in a numerical scheme. These are then contrasted with the values obtained by using available data on these objects, via a Monte Carlo error progression method. This way, we are able to constrain the theory within $5σ$ confidence level.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2020

Constraining modified gravity from tidal phenomena in binary stars

In beyond-Horndeski theories of gravity, the Vainshtein screening mechanism might only be partially effective inside stellar objects. This results in a modification of the pressure balance equation inside stars, often characterized by a single parameter ($Υ$) in isotropic systems. We show how to constrain such theories of modified gravity, using tidal effects. We study such effects in cataclysmic variable star binaries and numerically obtain limits on the critical masses of the donor stars, below which they are tidally disrupted, by modeling them in beyond-Horndeski theories. This is contrasted with values of the donor masses, obtained using existing observational data, by a Monte Carlo error progression method. A best fit scenario of the two yields a parametric constraint in the theories that we consider, within the approximations used. Here, we obtain the allowed range $ 0 \le Υ\le 0.47 $.

astro-ph.SR↗