Collaborative Research: Tidal Disruption of Stars in Galaxy Centers: Connecting Models to Observations

1615881/Ramirez-Ruiz + 1616754/Kasen 1的摘要。银河系就像我们的银河系一样，是由数千亿颗恒星组成的巨大集合体，它们在一个直径约为10万光年的圆盘中绕轨道运行。 潜伏在许多甚至所有星系中心的是超大质量黑洞？这些神秘的天体，其质量是我们太阳的数百万倍或数十亿倍，但却被塞进了一个很容易放入内太阳系的体积中。 在过去的几年里，天文学家发现了从附近星系核心区域发出的发光耀斑。 这些被认为是源于单个恒星的分裂，这些恒星的轨道非常接近黑洞，以至于它们被强大的引力撕裂。 当星星的残骸落入黑洞时所释放的能量产生了明亮的耀斑。 该项目的合作者将对这些事件进行详细的数值模拟，并将公开他们的计算机代码。 合作者还计划通过与视觉艺术和数字媒体领域的专家和学生合作，制作具有强大力量和美感的视觉模拟，让广大观众能够接触到他们的作品。 此外，他们将参加一个强有力的计划，从代表性不足的群体中招募和指导天文学学生。在过去的几年里，宽场瞬态调查已经开始提供更多和更好的数据有关潮汐中断事件（TDEs）。 TDE是当一颗星星被星系核心中的超大质量黑洞（SMBH）潮汐破坏时产生的。 由于对这类事件的理论理解仍然不完整，合作者将召集数值流体力学和非平衡辐射传输方面的专家，研究潮汐扰动星星的物质如何失去动能并吸积到SMBH上，确定产生X射线/紫外/光学光谱和TDE光变曲线的辐射过程，开发用于分析TDE的数值工具集，并应用它来约束观测事件中星星和SMBH的性质。 对于具有良好分辨的光变曲线的TDE，它们的模型将能够更好地表征SMBH和围绕它们的致密星团。 在合作机构现有优势的基础上，合作者还将利用最先进的天体物理模拟作为共同点，在视觉艺术和数字媒体方面交叉培养计算科学家和学生。 由此产生的视觉产品将用于传播结果，帮助公众了解科学和宇宙，并为科学课程，纪录片和天文学演示提供原始材料。 研究人员还将继续他们的计划，从代表性不足的群体中招募和指导天文学学生。

Abstract for 1615881/Ramirez-Ruiz + 1616754/Kasen1. Galaxies like our own Milky Way are vast collections of hundreds of billions of stars orbiting in a disk perhaps 100,000 light-years in diameter. Lurking in the centers of many and perhaps all galaxies are supermassive black holes?mysterious objects containing millions or billions of times as much mass as our own Sun, but crammed into a volume that would fit easily within the inner solar system. In the past few years, astronomers have discovered luminous flares emanating from the core regions of nearby galaxies. These are thought to originate from the disruption of individual stars that were orbiting so close to the black hole that they were ripped apart by its strong gravitational force. The energy emitted as the remains of the star fall into the black hole produces the luminous flare. The collaborators on this project will carry out detailed numerical modeling of these events and will make publicly available their computer codes. The collaborators also plan to make their work accessible to a wide audience by teaming experts with students in the visual arts and digital media to produce visual simulations of great power and beauty. In addition, they will participate in a strong program to recruit and mentor astronomy students from under-represented groups.2. Over the past several years, wide-field transient surveys have begun to deliver more and better data about tidal disruption events (TDEs). A TDE is produced when a star is tidally disrupted by a supermassive black hole (SMBH) in the core of a galaxy. Because the theoretical understanding of such events remains incomplete, the collaborators will bring together experts in numerical hydrodynamics and non-equilibrium radiative transfer to study how matter from the tidally disrupted star loses kinetic energy and accretes onto the SMBH, identify the radiative processes that generate the X-ray/ultraviolet/optical spectra and light curves of TDEs, develop a numerical toolset to be used in analyzing TDEs, and apply it to constrain the properties of the star and the SMBH in observed events. For TDEs with well-resolved light curves, their models will enable a better characterization of the SMBHs and the dense stellar clusters that surround them. Building upon existing strengths of the partner institutions, the collaborators will also cross-fertilize the training of computational scientists and students in the visual arts and digital media using state-of-the-art astrophysical simulations as common ground. The resulting visual products will be used to disseminate the results, help to inform the general public about science and the universe, and provide raw material for science curricula, documentaries, and astronomy presentations. The investigators will also continue their program to recruit and mentor astronomy students from under-represented groups.