Publication Date:
2020-07-07
Description:
We compute the tidal disruption event (TDE) rate around local massive black holes (MBHs) with masses as low as $2.5imes 10^4, mathrm{M}_{odot }$, thus probing the dwarf regime for the first time. We select a sample of 37 galaxies for which we have the surface stellar density profile, a dynamical estimate of the mass of the MBH, and 6 of which, including our Milky Way, have a resolved nuclear star cluster (NSC). For the Milky Way, we find a total TDE rate of ${sim}10^{-4}, mathrm{yr}^{-1}$ when taking the NSC in account, and ${sim}10^{-7} , mathrm{yr}^{-1}$ otherwise. TDEs are mainly sourced from the NSC for light (${lt}3imes 10^{10}, mathrm{M}_{odot }$) galaxies, with a rate of few $10^{-5}, mathrm{yr}^{-1}$, and an enhancement of up to two orders of magnitude compared to non-nucleated galaxies. We create a mock population of galaxies using different sets of scaling relations to explore trends with galaxy mass, taking into account the nucleated fraction of galaxies. Overall, we find a rate of few $10^{-5}, mathrm{yr}^{-1}$ which drops when galaxies are more massive than $10^{11}, mathrm{M}_{odot }$ and contain MBHs swallowing stars whole and resulting in no observable TDE.
Print ISSN:
0035-8711
Electronic ISSN:
1365-2966
Topics:
Physics
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