Tidal disruption of stellar binaries as a pathway to exotic transients
- 1Instituto de Radioastronomía y Astrofísica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México , Antigua Carretera a Pátzcuaro # 8701, Ex-Hda. San José de la Huerta, C.P. 58089 Morelia, Michoacán ,
- 2SECIHTI – Instituto de Física y Matemáticas, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Ciudad Universitaria , 58040 Morelia, Michoacán ,
- 3Facultad de Ciencias Físico Matemáticas, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Ciudad Universitaria , 58040 Morelia, Michoacán ,
Abstract
Tidal disruption event (TDE) progenitors are commonly modelled as single stars on parabolic orbits around a supermassive black hole (SMBH), yet observations reveal a richer diversity of dynamical pathways. We show that tidal separation of stellar binaries by a 106 M⊙ SMBH provides a natural mechanism for producing eccentric TDEs. Using restricted three-body and smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) simulations, we model a solar-like star (SLS)–white dwarf (WD) binary on a parabolic orbit. The binary orbital phase governs the outcome: one component is captured on to a tightly bound orbit while the other is ejected as a hypervelocity object, naturally producing TDEs with eccentricities e ≠ 1. We classify these into elliptical TDEs and hyperbolic TDEs, occurring with equal probability. For ∼ 88 per cent of orientations the disruption is clean, with no mass accreted by the WD. The remaining ∼ 12 per cent, in two narrow phase windows, leaves the WD with a captured debris envelope (WDDE). About a third of that, ∼ 4 per cent of orientations, involves a direct WD–SLS collision near pericenter, with fallback peaking up to 5 times earlier and 20 times higher than for a single star; for the innermost ∼ 1.5 per cent the total WDDE mass exceeds 1.4 M⊙, though the degenerate core does not, since the captured material forms a non-degenerate envelope, suggesting outcomes ranging from nova-like events to peculiar red giant-like objects. Depending on the phase, the mechanism may also produce repeating partial TDEs and quasi-periodic eruptions. Binary–SMBH encounters provide a robust channel for generating diverse TDEs with distinct observational signatures.
Versions
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BibTeX
@article{gonzalezservin2026tidal,
title = {{Tidal disruption of stellar binaries as a pathway to exotic transients}},
author = {Mauricio González-Servín and Emilio Tejeda and Susana Lizano and Luis A Manzaneda and Raúl Cano-Villegas},
journal = {Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1093/mnras/stag1899},
url = {https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/doi/10.1093/mnras/stag1899/8876085},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Tidal disruption of stellar binaries as a pathway to exotic transients
AU - Mauricio González-Servín
AU - Emilio Tejeda
AU - Susana Lizano
AU - Luis A Manzaneda
AU - Raúl Cano-Villegas
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/07
JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
DO - 10.1093/mnras/stag1899
UR - https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/doi/10.1093/mnras/stag1899/8876085
AB - Tidal disruption event (TDE) progenitors are commonly modelled as single stars on parabolic orbits around a supermassive black hole (SMBH), yet observations reveal a richer diversity of dynamical pathways. We show that tidal separation of stellar binaries by a 10^6 M_⊙ SMBH provides a natural mechanism for producing eccentric TDEs. Using restricted three-body and smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) simulations, we model a solar-like star (SLS)–white dwarf (WD) binary on a parabolic orbit. The binary orbital phase governs the outcome: one component is captured on to a tightly bound orbit while the other is ejected as a hypervelocity object, naturally producing TDEs with eccentricities e ≠ 1. We classify these into elliptical TDEs and hyperbolic TDEs, occurring with equal probability. For ∼ 88 per cent of orientations the disruption is clean, with no mass accreted by the WD. The remaining ∼ 12 per cent, in two narrow phase windows, leaves the WD with a captured debris envelope (WDDE). About a third of that, ∼ 4 per cent of orientations, involves a direct WD–SLS collision near pericenter, with fallback peaking up to 5 times earlier and 20 times higher than for a single star; for the innermost ∼ 1.5 per cent the total WDDE mass exceeds 1.4 M_⊙, though the degenerate core does not, since the captured material forms a non-degenerate envelope, suggesting outcomes ranging from nova-like events to peculiar red giant-like objects. Depending on the phase, the mechanism may also produce repeating partial TDEs and quasi-periodic eruptions. Binary–SMBH encounters provide a robust channel for generating diverse TDEs with distinct observational signatures.
SN - 0035-8711
SN - 1365-2966
ER -