arXiv subjects

Xiangli Lei

Publications and source records attributed to Xiangli Lei.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Simulations of interaction between outflow and surrounding broken power-law circumnuclear medium: implications for different radio light curves of TDEs

The complex radio light curves of tidal disruption events (TDEs) challenge our understanding of the properties of both the outflows and the circumnuclear medium (CNM) surrounding supermassive black holes. In this work, we explore outflow-CNM interactions across a broad parameter space using three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations, adopting a broken power-law CNM density profile with a transition near the Bondi radius. The outflow-CNM interaction inside Bondi radius produces an early radio flare ($\lesssim 2$ yr) once the emitting region becomes optically thin. A second radio rebrightening can appear a few years later if the outflow decelerates beyond Bondi radius. We also find that either a very dense inner CNM, which causes rapid deceleration, or a rarefied outer CNM suppresses the late rebrightening that will produces a single early-peaked flare. In contrast, a rarefied CNM inside the Bondi radius suppresses the early flare and yields a single late-peaked event. For the case of very dense CNM at large radii, the interaction will trigger a sharp late-time rise as observed in some TDEs. We further explore the interaction of a relativistic jet with a broken power-law CNM, which can reproduce the characteristic light curves as observed in jetted TDEs without invoking complex jet structure.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2026

Investigating the Circumnuclear Medium of Tidal Disruption Events with Radio Observations

Tidal disruption events (TDEs) are unique tools for investigating quiescent supermassive black hole (SMBH), accretion physics, and circumnuclear medium (CNM) environments. The CNM density profile is of great astrophysical significance, since it provides key diagnostics for the accretion history of dormant SMBH. TDEs can launch outflows that produce radio emission when propagating into the CNM. The closure relation (CR), i.e., the relation between the temporal indices and the spectral indices, are therefore monitoring the CNM density profile. In this work, we first collect 53 TDEs with radio observations to date. We then obtain the predicted CR for arbitrary CNM and different dynamical phases of the outflow, and apply to the radio TDE sample. We constrain the CNM density profile for 26 radio TDEs with good data quality. The results are generally consistent with those estimated with equipatition method, suggesting that CR analysis is efficient in the study of CNM profile for a quiescent SMBH.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2025

Simulations of Tidal Disruption of Supernova in Galaxy Nuclear Region: A Novel Model for Ambiguous Nuclear Transients

An increasing number of ambiguous nuclear transients, including some extreme nuclear transients with very shallow light-curve declines and weak AGN activity in their host galaxies, have been reported. Stars form in or are captured by AGN disks will grow and migrate inward, potentially exploding as supernovae once the inner cold accretion disk disappears in low-luminosity AGNs. We propose that the tidal disruption of a supernova (TDS) by a supermassive black hole (SMBH) can produce nuclear transients that are more energetic and evolve more slowly than typical tidal disruption events (TDEs), without the black hole mass limit as in TDEs. In this scenario, the SMBH capture the supernova ejecta, which subsequently self-intersects and circularizes into an accretion disk. Based on hydrodynamical simulations, we find that the accretion rate of the TDS disk exhibits a slow decline that can last for months to decades. The peak accretion rate of a typical core-collapse SN scenario can exceed the Eddington limit for SMBHs with $M_{\rm BH} \lesssim 10^{7.5}\,M_\odot$, while it remains sub-Eddington for more massive SMBHs. This model provides a mechanism for triggering an energetic TDE-like flare with luminosity $\gtrsim10^{45}\,\mathrm{erg\,s^{-1}}$ in weak AGNs even with SMBH mass much larger than $10^{8}\,M_\odot$ or triggering turn-on changing-look AGNs.

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arXiv2025

Investigation for binary characteristics of LS I+61303 with optical polarization

We investigate the optical linear polarization caused by Thomson scattering of the stellar radiation for gamma-ray binary \lsi61, which likely contains a young pulsar. Based on the pulsar binary scenario, we model the interaction between the pulsar wind and stellar wind from the massive companion star, which creates a shock. To accurately compute the resulting polarization of the stellar wind, we develop a method for the Thomson scattering that accounts for the finite size of the companion star. By fitting the optical polarization data, we constrain the system parameters, such as eccentricity, the momentum ratio of the two winds, and mass-loss rate from the companion star. We find that (i) the predicted eccentricity $e\sim 0.1$ is smaller than the values derived from the radial velocity curve and (ii) the orbital phase of the periastron is $ν_{\rm p}=0.5-0.6$, which is consistent with the previous polarization study of Kravtsov et al. Additionally, we estimate the mass-loss rate from the companion star and the momentum ratio of two winds as $\dot{M}\sim 2\times 10^{-6}\rm M_{\odot}~{\rm year^{-1}}$ and $η>0.1$, respectively. Assuming that the pulsar wind carries the spin-down energy, the spin-down magnetic field of the putative pulsar inferred from these parameters is of the order of $B\sim 10^{14}\mathrm{G}$, which may support the highly-B pulsar or magnetar scenario for the compact object of $\rm{LS\ I} +61^{\circ}303$. We also discuss the dispersion measure under the predicted orbital geometry and provide a corresponding interpretation of the pulsed radio signal detected by FAST.

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arXiv2025

Simulation of Binary-Single Interactions in AGN Disk I: Gas-Enhanced Binary Orbital Hardening

Stellar-mass binary black hole\,(BBH) mergers within the accretion disks of active galactic nuclei may contribute to gravitational wave\,(GW) events detected by grounded-based GW detectors. In particular, the interaction between a BBH and a single stellar-mass black hole\,(sBH), known as the binary-single interaction\,(BSI) process, can potentially lead to GW events with detectable non-zero eccentricity. Previous studies of the BSI process, which neglected the effects of gas, showed that BSIs contribute non-negligibly to GW events in a coplanar disk environment. In this work, we conduct a series of 2-dimensional hydrodynamical and N-body simulations to explore the BSI in a gas environment by coupling REBOUND with Athena++. We perform 360 simulation runs, spanning parameters in disk surface density $Σ_0$ and impact parameter $b$. We find that the gas-induced energy dissipation within the three-body system becomes significant if the encounter velocity between the sBHs is sufficiently large\,($\gg c_s$). Our simulation results indicate that approximately half of the end states of the BSI are changed by gas. Furthermore, at higher gas density, the number of close encounters during the BSI process will increase and the end-state BBHs tend to be more compact. Consequently, the presence of gas may shorten the GW merger timescale for end-state BBHs and increase the three-body merger rate.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2024

Exploring variation of double-peak broad-line profile in strongly variable AGNs

The geometry and kinematics of the broad-line region (BLR) in AGNs are still unclear, which is crucial for studying the physics and evolution of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) and AGNs. The broad-line profile provides valuable information on BLR geometry and kinematics. In this work, we explore the evolution of line profiles in variable AGNs based on the BLR model of Czerny \& Hryniewicz, where the BLR is driven by the radiation pressure acting on dust at the surface layers of the accretion disk. The line profiles in the low-Eddington-ratio regime show a double-peak profile, which will become a single peak at high Eddington ratios. The high metallicity of $Z\gtrsim 5Z_{\odot}$ is required to reproduce the observational anti-correlation between the peak separation of broad lines and the Eddington ratio for a sample of AGNs. For the broad lines in variable AGNs, it will take several years to several decades to change their line profile if the disk luminosity suffers strong variation in a much shorter timescale. More monitoring of the broad line and continuum in strongly variable AGNs can shed special light on BLR physics.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2024

Simulations on the collision between debris stream and outer dusty torus: a possible channel for forming fast-rise and long-delayed radio outburst in tidal disruption events

The geometrically thick dusty torus structure is believed to exist in the nuclear region of galaxies (especially in active galactic nuclei, AGNs). The debris stream from a tidal disruption event (TDE) will possibly collide with the dusty torus and produce a transient flare. We perform three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations to model the dynamical evolution of the interaction between unbound debris and dusty torus. During the continuous interaction, the shocked material will be spilled out from the interaction region and form an outflow. We calculate the temporal evolution of synchrotron emission by assuming that the shock accelerates a fraction of electrons in the outflow into a non-thermal distribution. We find that radio emission from the debris-torus collision generates a steep-rise and slow-decline radio light curve due to the sharp edge and dense gas of dusty torus, where the radio outburst delays the main optical/X-ray outburst by several years or even several tens of years. We apply our model to a TDE that happened in a narrow-line Seyfert I (PS16dtm), where both the radio spectrum and the light curve can be roughly reproduced. Future high-sensitivity, wide-field-of-view radio surveys have the opportunity to detect more such radio flares.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2024

The Interaction Between Stars and Past AGN Disk: Possible Explanation for the Kinematic Distributions of S-stars in the Galactic Center

The presence of young stars, aged around several million years and situated within the range of $\sim 0.04-1$ pc from our Galactic center raises a question about their origins and dynamical evolutions. Their kinematics provide an opportunity to explore their formation or possible subsequent dynamical evolution. If Sagittarius A* was active in the past as suggested by several observations, the accretion disk may have a significant impact on the dynamics of stars in the Galactic center. The drag force exerted on stars during star-disk interaction could lead some of them to sink into the accretion disk, and these embedded stars will rapidly migrate inward and eventually be disrupted within $\sim10^5$ yr. This could roughly explain the absence of stars within $2.5 \times 10^4 R_{\rm g}$ ($\sim$ 1000 au). Additionally, Kozai-Lidov oscillations, induced by the gravitational perturbation of the disk, could contribute to the bimodal distribution of S-star inclinations and drive a majority of stars into high eccentricity orbits.

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arXiv2024

The weakness of soft X-ray intensity: possible physical reason for weak line quasars

Weak-line quasars (WLQs) are a notable group of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) that show unusually weak UV lines even though their optical-UV continuum shapes are similar to those of typical quasars. The physical mechanism for WLQs is an unsolved puzzle in the AGN unified model. We explore the properties of UV emission lines by performing extensive photoionization calculations based on Cloudy simulation with different spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of AGNs. The AGN continua are built from several observational empirical correlations, where the black-body emission from the cold disk, the power-law emission from the hot corona, and a soft X-ray excess component are considered. We find that the equivalent width (EW) of C {\footnotesize IV} from our models is systematically lower than observational values if the component of soft X-ray excess is neglected. The EW will increase several times and is roughly consistent with the observations after considering the soft X-ray excess component as constrained from normal type I AGNs. We find that the UV lines are weak for QSOs with quite large BH mass (e.g., $M_{\rm BH}>10^9M_{\odot}$) and weak soft X-ray emission due to the deficit of ionizing photons. As an example, we present the strength of C {\footnotesize IV} based on the multi-band SEDs for three nearby weak-line AGNs, where the weaker soft X-ray emission normally predicts the weaker lines.

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