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Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0The Astrophysical Journal

Time-dependent Accretion Disks in Tidal Disruption Events: Long-term Light Curves

  • Chenlei Guo1,2
  • Erlin Qiao1,2
  1. 1Chinese Academy of Sciences
  2. 2University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
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Abstract

The time-dependent accretion disk has been applied to explain the light curves observed in tidal disruption events (TDEs). Radiation pressure instability is expected to be an important factor that can shape the evolution of the accretion disk. In this paper, we upgrade the time-dependent disk model in Guo & Qiao by incorporating an index μ (with the stress tensor ∝ p μ p gas 1 − μ , where p = p gas + p rad ) for the modified viscosity, and a parameter f w for the strength of the wind. Meanwhile, we adopt a more realistic fallback rate to inject into the disk. After systematically testing the effects of the newly incorporated parameters, we find that f w can affect the time when the instability occurs, while μ can influence the occurrence and variation magnitude of the radiation pressure instability. When μ < 0.4, the radiation pressure instability is completely removed from the disk, and the light curves evolve stably without large-scale magnitude variation. When μ > 0.4, the light curves can show oscillations caused by the instability, or drop steeply when the instability occurs and become flat in the late-time evolution, which mainly occurs when the viscous viscosity parameter α is small, or the impact parameter β is small. Since the drop in magnitude can be modulated by μ , we apply these “decay-to-flatten” light curves to some optical/UV observations in TDEs with different magnitudes of decline. Finally, we discuss the potential application of our model to some special TDEs that show oscillations in the light curves.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{guo2026timedependent,
  title = {{Time-dependent Accretion Disks in Tidal Disruption Events: Long-term Light Curves}},
  author = {Chenlei Guo and Erlin Qiao},
  journal = {The Astrophysical Journal},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.3847/1538-4357/aeab82},
  url = {https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/aeab82},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Time-dependent Accretion Disks in Tidal Disruption Events: Long-term Light Curves
AU  - Chenlei Guo
AU  - Erlin Qiao
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/21
JO  - The Astrophysical Journal
DO  - 10.3847/1538-4357/aeab82
UR  - https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/aeab82
AB  - The time-dependent accretion disk has been applied to explain the light curves observed in tidal disruption events (TDEs). Radiation pressure instability is expected to be an important factor that can shape the evolution of the accretion disk. In this paper, we upgrade the time-dependent disk model in Guo & Qiao by incorporating an index μ (with the stress tensor ∝ p μ p gas 1 − μ , where p = p gas + p rad ) for the modified viscosity, and a parameter f w for the strength of the wind. Meanwhile, we adopt a more realistic fallback rate to inject into the disk. After systematically testing the effects of the newly incorporated parameters, we find that f w can affect the time when the instability occurs, while μ can influence the occurrence and variation magnitude of the radiation pressure instability. When μ < 0.4, the radiation pressure instability is completely removed from the disk, and the light curves evolve stably without large-scale magnitude variation. When μ > 0.4, the light curves can show oscillations caused by the instability, or drop steeply when the instability occurs and become flat in the late-time evolution, which mainly occurs when the viscous viscosity parameter α is small, or the impact parameter β is small. Since the drop in magnitude can be modulated by μ , we apply these “decay-to-flatten” light curves to some optical/UV observations in TDEs with different magnitudes of decline. Finally, we discuss the potential application of our model to some special TDEs that show oscillations in the light curves.
SN  - 0004-637X
SN  - 1538-4357
ER  -