Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-k7p5g Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-08T15:10:21.934Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Radio Afterglow of the Jetted Tidal Disruption Event Swift J1644+57

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 July 2013

B.D. Metzger
Affiliation:
Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
D. Giannios
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
P. Mimica
Affiliation:
Departmento de Astronomia y Astrofisica, University de Valencia, 46100 Burjassot, Spain
Get access

Abstract

The recent transient event Swift J1644+57 has been interpreted as resulting from a relativistic outflow, powered by the accretion of a tidally disrupted star onto a supermassive black hole. This discovery of a new class of relativistic transients opens new windows into the study of tidal disruption events (TDEs) and offers a unique probe of the physics of relativistic jet formation and the conditions in the centers of distant quiescent galaxies. Unlike the rapidly-varying γ/X-ray emission from Swift J1644+57, the radio emission varies more slowly and is well modeled as synchrotron radiation from the shock interaction between the jet and the gaseous circumnuclear medium (CNM). Early after the onset of the jet, a reverse shock propagates through and decelerates the ejecta released during the first few days of activity, while at much later times the outflow approaches the self-similar evolution of Blandford and McKee. The point at which the reverse shock entirely crosses the earliest ejecta is clearly observed as an achromatic break in the radio light curve at t ≈ 10 days. I discuss the implications of Swift J1644+57 for the fraction of TDEs accompanied by relativistic jets; the physics of jet formation more broadly; and the prospects for detecting off-axis TDE radio emission, either via follow-up observations of TDE candidates discovered at other wavelengths or blindly with upcoming wide-field radio surveys.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© EAS, EDP Sciences 2013

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ayal, S., Livio, M., & Piran, T., 2000, ApJ, 545, 772 CrossRef
Berger, E., Levan, A., Tanvir, N.R., et al., 2011, GRB Coordinates Network, 11854, 1
Berger, E., Zauderer, A., Pooley, G.G., et al., 2012, ApJ, 748, 36 CrossRef
Blandford, R.D., & McKee, C.F., 1976, Phys. Fluids, 19, 1130 CrossRef
Bloom, J.S., Giannios, D., Metzger, B.D., et al., 2011, Science, 333, 203 CrossRef
Burrows, D.N., Kennea, J.A., Ghisellini, G., et al., 2011, Nature, 476, 421 CrossRef
De Villiers, J.-P., Hawley, J.F., Krolik, J.H., & Hirose, S., 2005, ApJ, 620, 878 CrossRef
Frail, D.A., Kulkarni, S.R., Ofek, E.O., Bower, G.C., & Nakar, E., 2012, ApJ, 747, 70 CrossRef
Giannios, D., & Metzger, B.D., 2011, MNRAS, 416, 2102 CrossRef
Guillochon, J., Ramirez-Ruiz, E., Rosswog, S., & Kasen, D., 2009, ApJ, 705, 844 CrossRef
Levan, A.J., Tanvir, N.R., Cenko, S.B., et al., 2011, Science, 333, 199 CrossRef
Lodato, G., King, A.R., & Pringle, J.E., 2009, MNRAS, 392, 332 CrossRef
Lodato, G., & Rossi, E.M., 2011, MNRAS, 410, 359 CrossRef
Penna, R.F., McKinney, J.C., Narayan, R., et al., 2010, MNRAS, 408, 752 CrossRef
Rees, M.J., 1988, Nature, 333, 523 CrossRef
Spruit, H.C., & Uzdensky, D.A., 2005, ApJ, 629, 960 CrossRef
Strubbe, L.E., & Quataert, E., 2009, MNRAS, 400, 2070 CrossRef
Ulmer, A., 1999, ApJ, 514, 180 CrossRef
van Velzen, S., Farrar, G.R., Gezari, S., et al., 2011, ApJ, 741, 73 CrossRef
van Velzen, S., Körding, E., & Falcke, H., 2011, MNRAS, 417, L51 CrossRef
Zauderer, B.A., Berger, E., Soderberg, A.M., et al., 2011, Nature, 476, 425 CrossRef
Zhang, W., & MacFadyen, A., 2009, ApJ, 698, 1261 CrossRef