Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 2 of 2
Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network
Contribution Of Stellar Tidal Disruptions To The X-Ray Luminosity Function Of Active Galaxies, Miloš Milosavljević, David Merritt, Luis C. Ho
Contribution Of Stellar Tidal Disruptions To The X-Ray Luminosity Function Of Active Galaxies, Miloš Milosavljević, David Merritt, Luis C. Ho
Articles
The luminosity function of active galactic nuclei has been measured down to luminosities ∼ 1042 ergs s-1 in the soft and hard X-rays. Some fraction of this activity is associated with the accretion of the material liberated by the tidal disruption of stars by massive black holes. We estimate the contribution to the X-ray luminosity function from the tidal disruption process. While the contribution depends on a number poorly known parameters, it appears that it can account for the majority of X-ray selected AGN with soft or hard Xray luminosities . 1043 - 1044 ergs s-1. If this is correct, …
Dynamical Cusp Regeneration, David Merritt, Andras Szell
Dynamical Cusp Regeneration, David Merritt, Andras Szell
Articles
After being destroyed by a binary supermassive black hole, a stellar density cusp can regrow at the center of a galaxy via energy exchange between stars moving in the gravitational field of the single, coalesced hole. We illustrate this process via high-accuracy N-body simulations. Regeneration requires roughly one relaxation time and the new cusp extends to a distance of roughly one-fifth the black hole’s influence radius, with density r ∼ r−7/4; the mass in the cusp is of order 10% the mass of the black hole. Growth of the cusp is preceded by a stage in which the stellar velocity …