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

1615881/拉米雷斯-鲁伊斯+1616754/卡森1的摘要。像我们银河系这样的星系是由数千亿颗恒星组成的巨大集合，这些恒星围绕着直径约10万光年的圆盘运行。潜伏在许多甚至所有星系中心的是超大质量黑洞。超大质量黑洞是一种神秘的物体，其质量是我们太阳的数百万倍或数十亿倍，但它们被塞进了一个可以很容易地放入内太阳系的体积中。在过去的几年里，天文学家们发现了从附近星系的核心区发出的发光耀斑。它们被认为源于单个恒星的分裂，这些恒星的轨道离黑洞太近了，以至于它们被黑洞强大的引力撕裂了。恒星残骸落入黑洞时释放出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。合作者还计划通过将专家与视觉艺术和数字媒体的学生合作，制作出具有强大力量和美的视觉模拟，从而使他们的作品能够被更广泛的受众所接受。此外，他们将参与一个强有力的计划，从代表不足的群体中招募和指导天文学学生。在过去的几年里，广域瞬变调查已经开始提供更多和更好的关于潮汐破坏事件(TDEs)的数据。当恒星被星系核心的超大质量黑洞(SMBH)潮汐分裂时，就会产生TDE。由于对这类事件的理论理解仍不完全，合作者将召集数值流体力学和非平衡辐射转移方面的专家，研究来自被潮汐破坏的恒星的物质如何失去动能并吸积到SMBH，确定产生TDEs的X射线/紫外线/光学光谱和光曲线的辐射过程，开发用于分析TDEs的数值工具包，并将其应用于约束观测事件中恒星和SMBH的性质。对于具有良好分辨的光曲线的热释光探测器，他们的模型将能够更好地描述SMBH及其周围的致密星团。在伙伴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，交叉培养计算科学家和学生在视觉艺术和数字媒体方面的培训。由此产生的视觉产品将用于传播结果，帮助向公众宣传科学和宇宙，并为科学课程、纪录片和天文学演示提供原材料。调查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.