Studying the Radiation of a White Dwarf Star Falling onto a Black Hole

We investigate electromagnetic and gravitational radiation generated during the process of the tidal stripping of a white dwarf star circulating a black hole. We go beyond Chandrasekhar’s ideas and not only consider the white dwarf itself as a quantum object, but also describe the dynamics of the pr...

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Main Authors: Marek Nikołajuk, Tomasz Karpiuk, Lorenzo Ducci, Mirosław Brewczyk
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IOP Publishing 2025-01-01
Series:The Astrophysical Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adae8c
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author Marek Nikołajuk
Tomasz Karpiuk
Lorenzo Ducci
Mirosław Brewczyk
author_facet Marek Nikołajuk
Tomasz Karpiuk
Lorenzo Ducci
Mirosław Brewczyk
author_sort Marek Nikołajuk
collection DOAJ
description We investigate electromagnetic and gravitational radiation generated during the process of the tidal stripping of a white dwarf star circulating a black hole. We go beyond Chandrasekhar’s ideas and not only consider the white dwarf itself as a quantum object, but also describe the dynamics of the produced accretion disk in a quantum way. We model the white dwarf star as a Bose–Fermi droplet and use the quantum hydrodynamic equations to simulate the evolution of the black hole–white dwarf binary system. While going through periastron, the white dwarf loses a small fraction of its mass. The mass falling onto a black hole is a source of powerful electromagnetic and gravitational radiation. Bursts of ultraluminous radiation are flared at each periastron passage. This resembles the recurrent flaring of X-ray sources discovered recently by Irwin et al. Gravitational energy bursts occur mainly through emission at very low frequencies. The accretion disk, formed due to stripping of the white dwarf, starts at some point to contribute continuously to radiation of both electromagnetic and gravitational types.
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id doaj-art-c39b4df237f34e4aa4390e8e0e9c1c6c
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issn 1538-4357
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publishDate 2025-01-01
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series The Astrophysical Journal
spelling doaj-art-c39b4df237f34e4aa4390e8e0e9c1c6c2025-08-20T02:56:02ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572025-01-01980225610.3847/1538-4357/adae8cStudying the Radiation of a White Dwarf Star Falling onto a Black HoleMarek Nikołajuk0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4075-6745Tomasz Karpiuk1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7194-324XLorenzo Ducci2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9989-538XMirosław Brewczyk3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5273-0641Faculty of Physics, University of Białystok , ul. K. Ciołkowskiego 1L, 15-245 Białystok, Poland ; m.nikolajuk@uwb.edu.pl, t.karpiuk@uwb.edu.plFaculty of Physics, University of Białystok , ul. K. Ciołkowskiego 1L, 15-245 Białystok, Poland ; m.nikolajuk@uwb.edu.pl, t.karpiuk@uwb.edu.plInstitut für Astronomie und Astrophysik, Kepler Center for Astro and Particle Physics, Eberhard Karls Universität , Sand 1, 72076 Tübingen, Germany; Department of Astronomy, University of Geneva , Chemin d’Ecogia 16, CH-1290 Versoix, SwitzerlandFaculty of Physics, University of Białystok , ul. K. Ciołkowskiego 1L, 15-245 Białystok, Poland ; m.nikolajuk@uwb.edu.pl, t.karpiuk@uwb.edu.plWe investigate electromagnetic and gravitational radiation generated during the process of the tidal stripping of a white dwarf star circulating a black hole. We go beyond Chandrasekhar’s ideas and not only consider the white dwarf itself as a quantum object, but also describe the dynamics of the produced accretion disk in a quantum way. We model the white dwarf star as a Bose–Fermi droplet and use the quantum hydrodynamic equations to simulate the evolution of the black hole–white dwarf binary system. While going through periastron, the white dwarf loses a small fraction of its mass. The mass falling onto a black hole is a source of powerful electromagnetic and gravitational radiation. Bursts of ultraluminous radiation are flared at each periastron passage. This resembles the recurrent flaring of X-ray sources discovered recently by Irwin et al. Gravitational energy bursts occur mainly through emission at very low frequencies. The accretion disk, formed due to stripping of the white dwarf, starts at some point to contribute continuously to radiation of both electromagnetic and gravitational types.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adae8cWhite dwarf starsHydrodynamical simulationsStellar accretion disksSchwarzschild black holes
spellingShingle Marek Nikołajuk
Tomasz Karpiuk
Lorenzo Ducci
Mirosław Brewczyk
Studying the Radiation of a White Dwarf Star Falling onto a Black Hole
The Astrophysical Journal
White dwarf stars
Hydrodynamical simulations
Stellar accretion disks
Schwarzschild black holes
title Studying the Radiation of a White Dwarf Star Falling onto a Black Hole
title_full Studying the Radiation of a White Dwarf Star Falling onto a Black Hole
title_fullStr Studying the Radiation of a White Dwarf Star Falling onto a Black Hole
title_full_unstemmed Studying the Radiation of a White Dwarf Star Falling onto a Black Hole
title_short Studying the Radiation of a White Dwarf Star Falling onto a Black Hole
title_sort studying the radiation of a white dwarf star falling onto a black hole
topic White dwarf stars
Hydrodynamical simulations
Stellar accretion disks
Schwarzschild black holes
url https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adae8c
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AT tomaszkarpiuk studyingtheradiationofawhitedwarfstarfallingontoablackhole
AT lorenzoducci studyingtheradiationofawhitedwarfstarfallingontoablackhole
AT mirosławbrewczyk studyingtheradiationofawhitedwarfstarfallingontoablackhole