arXiv subjects

Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz

Publications and source records attributed to Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

arXiv2021

The Gravity Collective: A Search for the Electromagnetic Counterpart to the Neutron Star-Black Hole Merger GW190814

We present optical follow-up imaging obtained with the Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope, Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network, Nickel Telescope, Swope Telescope, and Thacher Telescope of the LIGO/Virgo gravitational wave (GW) signal from the neutron star-black hole (NSBH) merger GW190814. We searched the GW190814 localization region (19 deg$^{2}$ for the 90th percentile best localization), covering a total of 51 deg$^{2}$ and 94.6% of the two-dimensional localization region. Analyzing the properties of 189 transients that we consider as candidate counterparts to the NSBH merger, including their localizations, discovery times from merger, optical spectra, likely host-galaxy redshifts, and photometric evolution, we conclude that none of these objects are likely to be associated with GW190814. Based on this finding, we consider the likely optical properties of an electromagnetic counterpart to GW190814, including possible kilonovae and short gamma-ray burst afterglows. Using the joint limits from our follow-up imaging, we conclude that a counterpart with an $r$-band decline rate of 0.68 mag day$^{-1}$, similar to the kilonova AT 2017gfo, could peak at an absolute magnitude of at most $-17.8$ mag (50% confidence). Our data are not constraining for ''red'' kilonovae and rule out ''blue'' kilonovae with $M>0.5 M_{\odot}$ (30% confidence). We strongly rule out all known types of short gamma-ray burst afterglows with viewing angles $<$17$^{\circ}$ assuming an initial jet opening angle of $\sim$$5.2^{\circ}$ and explosion energies and circumburst densities similar to afterglows explored in the literature. Finally, we explore the possibility that GW190814 merged in the disk of an active galactic nucleus, of which we find four in the localization region, but we do not find any candidate counterparts among these sources.

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arXiv2021

Explaining the LIGO black hole mass function with field binaries: Revisiting Stellar Evolution at low Metallicity or Invoking Growth via gas accretion?

Our understanding of the formation and evolution of binary black holes (BBHs) is significantly impacted by the recent discoveries made by the LIGO/Virgo collaboration. Of utmost importance is the detection of the most massive BBH system, GW190521. Here we investigate what it takes for field massive stellar binaries to account for the formation of such massive BBHs. Whether the high mass end of the BH mass function is populated by remnants of massive stars that either formed at extremely low metallicities and avoid the pair-instability mass gap or increase their birth mass beyond the pair-instability mass gap through the accretion of gas from the surrounding medium. We show that assuming that massive stars at very low metallicities can form massive BHs by avoiding pair-instability supernova, coupled with a correspondingly high formation efficiency for BBHs, can explain the observed BH mass function. To this end, one requires a relation between the initial and final mass of the progenitor stars at low metallicities that is shallower than what is expected from wind mass loss alone. On the other hand, assuming pair-instability operates at all metallicities, one can account for the observed BH mass function if at least about 10% of the BHs born at very low metallicities double their mass before they merge because of accretion of ambient gas. Such BBHs will have to spend about a Gyr within a parsec length-scale of their parent atomic cooling halos or a shorter timescale if they reside in the inner sub-parsecs of their host dark matter halos. Future stellar evolution calculations of massive stars at very low metallicity and hydrodynamical simulations of gas accretion onto BBHs born in atomic cooling halos can shed light on this debate.

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arXiv2021

The Effects of Metallicity and Abundance Pattern of the ISM on Supernova Feedback

Supernova (SN) feedback plays a vital role in the evolution of galaxies. While modern cosmological simulations capture the leading structures within galaxies, they struggle to provide sufficient resolution to study small-scale stellar feedback, such as the detailed evolution of SN remnants. It is thus common practice to assume subgrid models that are rarely extended to low metallicities, and which routinely use the standard solar abundance pattern. With the aid of 1-d hydrodynamical simulations, we extend these models to consider low metallicities and non-solar abundance patterns as derived from spectra of Milky Way stars. For that purpose, a simple, yet effective framework has been developed to generate non-solar abundance pattern cooling functions. We find that previous treatments markedly over-predict SN feedback at low metallicities and show that non-negligible changes in the evolution of SN remnants of up to $\approx 50\%$ in $cooling\; mass$ and $\approx 27\%$ in $momentum\; injection\; from\; SN\; remnants$ arise from non-solar abundance patterns. We use our simulations to quantify these results as a function of metallicity and abundance pattern variations and present analytic formulae to accurately describe the trends. These formulae have been designed to serve as subgrid models for SN feedback in cosmological hydrodynamical simulations.

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arXiv2021

Discovery of a Fast Iron Low-ionization Outflow in the Early Evolution of the Nearby Tidal Disruption Event AT2019qiz

We report the results of ultraviolet (UV) and optical photometric and spectroscopic analysis of the tidal disruption event (TDE) AT2019qiz. Our follow-up observations started $<$10 days after the source began to brighten in the optical and lasted for a period of six months. Our late-time host-dominated spectrum indicates that the host galaxy likely harbors a weak active galactic nucleus. The initial {\it Hubble Space Telescope (HST)} spectrum of AT2019qiz exhibits an iron and low-ionization broad absorption line (FeLoBAL) system that is seen for the first time in a TDE. This spectrum also bears a striking resemblance to that of Gaia16apd, a superluminous supernova. Our observations provide insights into the outflow properties in TDEs and show evidence for a connection between TDEs and engine-powered supernovae at early phase, as originally suggested in Metzger & Stone (2016). In a time frame of 50 days, the UV spectra of AT2019qiz started to resemble previous TDEs with only high-ionization BALs. The change in UV spectral signatures is accompanied by a decrease in the outflow velocity, which began at $15,000$ km s$^{-1}$ and decelerated to $\sim10,000$ km s$^{-1}$. A similar evolution in the H$α$ emission line width further supports the speculation that the broad Balmer emission lines are formed in TDE outflows. In addition, we detect narrow absorption features on top of the FeLoBAL signatures in the early HST UV spectrum of AT2019qiz. The measured HI column density corresponds to a Lyman-limit system whereas the metal absorption lines, such as NV, CIV, FeII, and MgII, are likely probing the circumnuclear gas and interstellar medium in the host galaxy.

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arXiv2021

Distinguishing Tidal Disruption Events from Impostors

Recent claimed detections of tidal disruption events (TDEs) in multi-wavelength data have opened potential new windows into the evolution and properties of otherwise dormant supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in the centres of galaxies. At present, there are several dozen TDE candidates, which share some properties and differ in others. The range in properties is broad enough to overlap other transient types, such as active galactic nuclei (AGN) and supernovae (SNe), which can make TDE classification ambiguous. A further complication is that "TDE signatures" have not been uniformly observed to similar sensitivities or even targeted across all candidates. This chapter reviews those events that are unusual relative to other TDEs, including the possibility of TDEs in pre-existing AGN, and summarises those characteristics thought to best distinguish TDEs from continuously accreting AGN, strongly flaring AGN, SNe, and Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs), as well as other potential impostors like stellar collisions, "micro-TDEs," and circumbinary accretion flows. We conclude that multiple observables should be used to classify any one event as a TDE. We also consider the TDE candidate population as a whole, which, for certain host galaxy or SMBH characteristics, is distinguishable statistically from non-TDEs, suggesting that at least some TDE candidates do in fact arise from SMBH-disrupted stars.

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arXiv2021

Illuminating black hole subsystems in young star clusters

There is increasing evidence that globular clusters retain sizeable black hole populations at present day. This is supported by dynamical simulations of cluster evolution, which have unveiled the spatial distribution and mass spectrum of black holes in clusters across cosmic age. However, black hole populations of young, high metallicity clusters remain unconstrained. Black holes hosted by these clusters mass segregate early in their evolutionary history, forming central subsystems of hundreds to thousands of black holes. We argue that after supernova feedback has subsided ($\gtrsim 50\,{\rm Myr}$), the host cluster can accumulate gas from its dense surroundings, from which the black hole subsystem accretes at highly enhanced rates. The collective accretion luminosity can be substantial and provides a novel observational constraint for young massive clusters. We test this hypothesis by performing 3D hydrodynamic simulations where we embed discretized potentials, representing our black holes, within the potential of a massive cluster. This system moves supersonically with respect to a gaseous medium from which it accretes. We study the accretion of this black hole subsystem for different subsystem populations and determine the integrated accretion luminosity of the black hole subsystem. We apply our results to the young massive clusters of the Antennae Galaxies and find that a typical subsystem accretion luminosity should be in excess of $\approx 10^{40}\,{\rm ergs\,\,s^{-1}}$. We argue that no strong candidates of this luminous signal have been observed and constrain the subsystem population of a typical cluster in the Antennae Galaxies to $\lesssim10-2\times10^2$ $10\,M_\odot$ black holes, given that feedback doesn't significantly impede accretion and that the gas remains optically thin.

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arXiv2021

A Cool and Inflated Progenitor Candidate for the Type Ib Supernova 2019yvr at 2.6 Years Before Explosion

We present Hubble Space Telescope imaging of a pre-explosion counterpart to SN 2019yvr obtained 2.6 years before its explosion as a type Ib supernova (SN Ib). Aligning to a post-explosion Gemini-S/GSAOI image, we demonstrate that there is a single source consistent with being the SN 2019yvr progenitor system, the second SN Ib progenitor candidate after iPTF13bvn. We also analyzed pre-explosion Spitzer/IRAC imaging, but we do not detect any counterparts at the SN location. SN 2019yvr was highly reddened, and comparing its spectra and photometry to those of other, less extinguished SNe Ib we derive $E(B-V)=0.51\substack{+0.27\\-0.16}$ mag for SN 2019yvr. Correcting photometry of the pre-explosion source for dust reddening, we determine that this source is consistent with a $\log(L/L_{\odot}) = 5.3 \pm 0.2$ and $T_{\mathrm{eff}} = 6800\substack{+400\\-200}$ K star. This relatively cool photospheric temperature implies a radius of 320$\substack{+30\\-50} R_{\odot}$, much larger than expectations for SN Ib progenitor stars with trace amounts of hydrogen but in agreement with previously identified SN IIb progenitor systems. The photometry of the system is also consistent with binary star models that undergo common envelope evolution, leading to a primary star hydrogen envelope mass that is mostly depleted but seemingly in conflict with the SN Ib classification of SN 2019yvr. SN 2019yvr had signatures of strong circumstellar interaction in late-time ($>$150 day) spectra and imaging, and so we consider eruptive mass loss and common envelope evolution scenarios that explain the SN Ib spectroscopic class, pre-explosion counterpart, and dense circumstellar material. We also hypothesize that the apparent inflation could be caused by a quasi-photosphere formed in an extended, low-density envelope or circumstellar matter around the primary star.

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arXiv2021

The Landscape of Galaxies Harboring Changing-Look Active Galactic Nuclei in the Local Universe

We study the properties of the host galaxies of Changing-Look Active Galactic Nuclei (CL AGNs) with the aim of understanding the conditions responsible for triggering CL activity. We find that CL AGN hosts primarily reside in the so-called green valley that is located between spiral-like star-forming galaxies and dead ellipticals, implying that CL AGNs are activated during distinct periods of quenching and galaxy transformation processes. CL AGN hosts have low galaxy asymmetry indicators, suggesting that secular evolutionary processes (the influence of bars and spirals, and possibly minor mergers) might be the primary mechanism for transporting gas to the vicinity of the supermassive black hole (SMBH) rather than major mergers. Similar to tidal disruption events (TDEs) and highly variable AGNs, we find that CL AGN hosts are associated with SMBHs residing in high density pseudo-bulges and appear to overlap most significantly with the population of low-ionization nuclear emission-line region (LINER) galaxies. As such, CL AGN are likely fueled by strong episodic bursts of accretion activity, which appear to take place preferentially as the amount of material accessible for star formation and accretion dwindles. We also identify that CL AGN hosts are characterized by either large Sérsic indices or high bulge fractions, which suggests a simple metric for identifying candidates for spectroscopic follow-up observations in forthcoming synoptic surveys.

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arXiv2020

Stellar Tidal Disruption Events with Abundances and Realistic Structures (STARS): Library of Fallback Rates

We present the STARS library, a grid of tidal disruption event (TDE) simulations interpolated to provide the mass fallback rate ($dM/dt$) to the black hole for a main-sequence star of any stellar mass, stellar age, and impact parameter. We use a one-dimensional stellar evolution code to construct stars with accurate stellar structures and chemical abundances, then perform tidal disruption simulations in a three-dimensional adaptive-mesh hydrodynamics code with a Helmholtz equation of state, in unprecedented resolution: from 131 to 524 cells across the diameter of the star. The interpolated library of fallback rates is available on GitHub (https://github.com/jamielaw-smith/STARS_library) and version 1.0.0 is archived on Zenodo; one can query the library for any stellar mass, stellar age, and impact parameter. We provide new fitting formulae for important disruption quantities ($β_{\rm crit}, ΔM, \dot M_{\rm peak}, t_{\rm peak}, n_\infty$) as a function of stellar mass, stellar age, and impact parameter. Each of these quantities vary significantly with stellar mass and stellar age, but we are able to reduce all of our simulations to a single relationship that depends only on stellar structure, characterized by a single parameter $ρ_c/\barρ$, and impact parameter $β$. We also find that, in general, more centrally concentrated stars have steeper $dM/dt$ rise slopes and shallower decay slopes. For the same $ΔM$, the $dM/dt$ shape varies significantly with stellar mass, promising the potential determination of stellar properties from the TDE light curve alone. The $dM/dt$ shape depends strongly on stellar structure and to a certain extent stellar mass, meaning that fitting TDEs using this library offers a better opportunity to determine the nature of the disrupted star and the black hole.

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arXiv2020

Massive Stellar Triples Leading to Sequential Binary Black-Hole Mergers in the Field

Stellar triples with massive stellar components are common, and can lead to sequential binary black-hole mergers. Here, we outline the evolution towards these sequential mergers, and explore these events in the context of gravitational-wave astronomy and the pair-instability mass gap. We find that binary black-hole mergers in the pair-instability mass gap can be of triple origin and therefore are not exclusively formed in dense dynamical environments. We discuss the sequential merger scenario in the context of the most massive gravitational-wave sources detected to date: GW170729 and GW190521. We propose that the progenitor of GW170729 is a low-metallicity field triple. We support the premise that GW190521 could not have been formed in the field. We conclude that triple stellar evolution is fundamental in the understanding of gravitational-wave sources, and likely, other energetic transientsas well.

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arXiv2020

The Fate of the Merger Remnant in GW170817 and its Imprint on the Jet Structure

The first neutron star binary merger detected in gravitational waves, GW170817 and the subsequent detection of its emission across the electromagnetic spectrum showed that these systems are viable progenitors of short $γ$-ray bursts (sGRB). The afterglow signal of GW170817 has been found to be consistent with a structured GRB jet seen off-axis, requiring significant amounts of relativistic material at large angles. This trait can be attributed to the interaction of the relativistic jet with the external wind medium. Here we perform numerical simulations of relativistic jets interacting with realistic wind environments in order to explore how the properties of the wind and central engine affect the structure of successful jets. We find that the angular energy distribution of the jet depends primarily on the ratio between the lifetime of the jet and the time it takes the merger remnant to collapse. We make use of these simulations to constrain the time it took for the merger remnant in GW170817 to collapse into a black hole based on the angular structure of the jet as inferred from afterglow observations. We conclude that the lifetime of the merger remnant in GW170817 was $\approx 1-1.7$s, which, after collapse, triggered the formation of the jet.

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arXiv2020

Radiogenic Heating and its Influence on Rocky Planet Dynamos and Habitability

The thermal evolution of rocky planets on geological timescales (Gyr) depends on the heat input from the long-lived radiogenic elements potassium, thorium, and uranium. Concentrations of the latter two in rocky planet mantles are likely to vary by up to an order of magnitude between different planetary systems because Th and U, like other heavy r-process elements, are produced by rare stellar processes. Here we discuss the effects of these variations on the thermal evolution of an Earth-size planet, using a 1D parameterized convection model. Assuming Th and U abundances consistent with geochemical models of the Bulk Silicate Earth based on chondritic meteorites, we find that Earth had just enough radiogenic heating to maintain a persistent dynamo. According to this model, Earth-like planets of stars with higher abundances of heavy r-process elements, indicated by the relative abundance of europium in their spectra, are likely to have lacked a dynamo for a significant fraction of their lifetimes, with potentially negative consequences for hosting a biosphere. Because the qualitative outcomes of our 1D model are strongly dependent on the treatment of viscosity, further investigations using fully 3D convection models are desirable.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2020

Constraining Delay Time Distribution of Binary Neutron Star Mergers from Host Galaxy Properties

Gravitational wave (GW) observatories are discovering binary neutron star mergers (BNSMs), and in at least one event we were able to track it down in multiple wavelengths of light, which allowed us to identify the host galaxy. Using a catalogue of local galaxies with inferred star formation histories and adopting a BNSM delay time distribution (DTD) model, we investigate the dependence of BNSM rate on an array of galaxy properties. Compared to the intrinsic property distribution of galaxies, that of BNSM host galaxies is skewed toward galaxies with redder colour, lower specific star formation rate, higher luminosity, and higher stellar mass, reflecting the tendency of higher BNSM rates in more massive galaxies. We introduce a formalism to efficiently make forecast on using host galaxy properties to constrain DTD models. We find comparable constraints from the dependence of BNSM occurrence distribution on galaxy colour, specific star formation rate, and stellar mass, all better than those from dependence on $r$-band luminosity. The tightest constraints come from using individual star formation histories of host galaxies, which reduces the uncertainties on DTD parameters by a factor of three or more. Substantially different DTD models can be differentiated with about 10 BNSM detections. To constrain DTD parameters at 10\% precision level requires about one hundred detections, achievable with GW observations on a decade time scale.

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arXiv2020

Double-Peaked Balmer Emission Indicating Prompt Accretion Disk Formation in an X-Ray Faint Tidal Disruption Event

We present the multi-wavelength analysis of the tidal disruption event (TDE) AT~2018hyz (ASASSN-18zj). From follow-up optical spectroscopy, we detect the first unambiguous case of resolved double-peaked Balmer emission in a TDE. The distinct line profile can be well-modelled by a low eccentricity ($e\approx0.1$) accretion disk extending out to $\sim$100 $R_{p}$ and a Gaussian component originating from non-disk clouds, though a bipolar outflow origin cannot be completely ruled out. Our analysis indicates that in AT~2018hyz, disk formation took place promptly after the most-bound debris returned to pericenter, which we estimate to be roughly tens of days before the first detection. Redistribution of angular momentum and mass transport, possibly through shocks, must occur on the observed timescale of about a month to create the large \Ha-emitting disk that comprises $\lesssim$5\% of the initial stellar mass. With these new insights from AT~2018hyz, we infer that circularization is efficient in at least some, if not all optically-bright, X-ray faint TDEs. In these efficiently circularized TDEs, the detection of double-peaked emission depends on the disk inclination angle and the relative strength of the disk contribution to the non-disk component, possibly explaining the diversity seen in the current sample.

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arXiv2020

On the maximum stellar rotation to form a black hole without an accompanying luminous transient

The collapse of a massive star with low angular momentum content is commonly argued to result in the formation of a black hole without an accompanying bright transient. Our goal in this Letter is to understand the flow in and around a newly-formed black hole, involving accretion and rotation, via general relativistic hydrodynamics simulations aimed at studying the conditions under which infalling material can accrete without forming a centrifugally supported structure and, as a result, generate no effective feedback. If the feedback from the black hole is, on the other hand, significant, the collapse would be halted and we suggest that the event is likely to be followed by a bright transient. We find that feedback is only efficient if the specific angular momentum of the infalling material at the innermost stable circular orbit exceeds that of geodesic circular flow at that radius by at least $\approx 20\%$. We use the results of our simulations to constrain the maximal stellar rotation rates of the disappearing massive progenitors PHL293B-LBV and N6946-BH1, and to provide an estimate of the overall rate of disappearing massive stars. We find that about a few percent of single O-type stars with measured rotational velocities are expected to spin below the critical value before collapse and are thus predicted to vanish without a trace.

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arXiv2020

LB-1 is inconsistent with the X-ray source population and pulsar-black hole binary searches in the Milky Way

If confirmed, a wide binary system of 70 $M_{\odot}$ black hole (BH) and an 8 $M_{\odot}$ main sequence star (LB-1) is observed to reside in the Milky Way (MW). We show that long term evolution of an 8 $M_{\odot}$ star around a BH with mass between 5-70 $M_{\odot}$ makes them visible as ultra-luminous X-ray (ULX) sources in the sky. Given the expected ULX phase lifetime ($\approx0.1$ Myr) and their lack of detection in the MW, we conclude that the frequency of an 8-20 $M_{\odot}$ star to be in binary around a stellar mass BH should be less than ($f<2\times10^{-3}$). This is in tension with Liu et al. (2019) claimed detection frequency of LB-1 like system around 8-20$M_{\odot}$ stars ($f\approx3\times10^{-2}$). Moreover, the 8 $M_{\odot}$ star is likely to end as a neutron star (NS) born with a very small kick from an electron capture supernova (ECSN), leaving behind a wide NS-BH binary. So far less than 1\% of all the detectable pulsars in the MW are mapped and there has been no detection of any pulsars in binary systems around BHs which sets an upper bound of about 100 possible pulsar-BH systems in the MW. We show if the NS is born from ECSN, a frequency upper limit of ($f=5\times10^{-4}$) for stars with masses $\approx 8-20~M_{\odot}$ in the MW to have a BH companion. The rate discrepancy will further increase as more pulsars are mapped in the MW, yet these searches would not be able to rule out the Liu et al. detection frequency if NSs are instead born in core collapse SNe with the commonly inferred high kick velocities.

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arXiv2020

The Art of Modeling Stellar Mergers and the Case of the B[e] Supergiant R4 in the Small Magellanic Cloud

Most massive stars exchange mass with a companion, leading to evolution which is altered drastically from that expected of stars in isolation. Such systems are the result of unusual binary evolution pathways and, as such, may be used to place stringent constraints on the physics of these interactions. We use the R4 system's B[e] supergiant, which has been postulated to be the product of a binary stellar merger, to guide our understanding of such outcomes by comparing observations of R4 to the results of simulations of mergers performed with the 3d hydrodynamics code FLASH. Our approach tailors the simulation initial conditions to the observed properties of R4 and implements realistic stellar profiles generated by the 1d stellar evolution code MESA onto the 3d grid, resolving the merger inspiral to within $0.02\, R_{\odot}$. We then map the merger remnant into MESA to track its evolution on the HR diagram over a period of $10^4$ years. This generates models for a B[e] supergiant with stellar properties, age, and nebula structure in qualitative agreement with that of the R4 system. Our calculations provide concrete evidence to support the idea that R4 was originally a member of a triple system in which the inner binary merged after its most massive member evolved off the main sequence, producing a new object that is of similar mass yet significantly more luminous than the A supergiant companion. The potential applications of the code framework presented in this paper are wide ranging and can be used to generate models of a variety of merger stellar remnants.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2020

Common Envelope Wind Tunnel: Range of Applicability and Self-Similarity in Realistic Stellar Envelopes

Common envelope evolution, the key orbital tightening phase of the traditional formation channel for close binaries, is a multistage process that presents many challenges to the establishment of a fully descriptive, predictive theoretical framework. In an approach complementary to global 3D hydrodynamical modeling, we explore the range of applicability for a simplified drag formalism that incorporates the results of local hydrodynamic "wind tunnel" simulations into a semi-analytical framework in the treatment of the common envelope dynamical inspiral phase using a library of realistic giant branch stellar models across the low, intermediate, and high mass regimes. In terms of a small number of key dimensionless parameters, we characterize a wide range of common envelope events, revealing the broad range of applicability of the drag formalism as well its self-similar nature across mass regimes and ages. Limitations arising from global binary properties and local structural quantities are discussed together with the opportunity for a general prescriptive application for this formalism.

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