Can tidal disruption event models reliably measure black hole masses?
潮汐瓦解事件模型能可靠地测量黑洞质量吗?
Tidal disruption event (TDE) light curves are increasingly used to infer the masses of quiescent supermassive black holes (M<SUB>BH</SUB>), offering a powerful probe of low-mass black hole demographics independent of host-galaxy scaling relations. However, most semi-analytic TDE models invoke assumptions aligned with a full stellar disruption, despite theoretical expectations that partial disruptions dominate the TDE population. In this work we test the robustness of current TDE models using three repeating partial TDEs (rpTDEs), in which the multiple flares produced by the same surviving stellar core must yield consistent black hole masses. We present spectroscopic observations establishing AT 2023adr as a rpTDE, making it the third such spectroscopically confirmed event. We independently model the flares of the three rpTDEs; 2020vdq, 2022dbl, and 2023adr, applying fallback-accretion fits, stream-stream collision scaling relations, luminosity-based empirical relations, accretion disc models, and cooling-envelope fits. After accounting for statistical and model-specific systematics, we find that all TDE models generally return self-consistent M<SUB>BH</SUB> values between flares, and are broadly consistent with host-galaxy M<SUB>BH</SUB> proxies, recovering M<SUB>BH</SUB> to within 0.3-0.5 dex. However, the convergence of fallback models towards unphysical stellar masses and impact parameters reveals limitations in existing fallback model grids. We also show that light curve coverage, particularly in the near-ultraviolet, is critical for constraining model parameters. This has direct implications for interpreting the thousands of TDE light curves expected from upcoming surveys such as the Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time, where from MOSFiT simulations, we find that M<SUB>BH</SUB> may be underestimated on average by 0.1 - 0.5 dex depending on peak light curve coverage and the availability of follow-up data.
展开 ▾首次以重复部分 TDE 为检验样本,系统对比了双耀发独立拟合下多种 TDE 质量测量方法的一致性;通过 LSST 光变模拟,定量揭示了无紫外补充观测时黑洞质量系统偏低的偏差。
利用 TDE 光变曲线测量静止黑洞质量已成为独立于星系标度关系的重要手段,但主流模型(如 Mockler+ 2019 的 fallback 模型、Ryu+ 2020b 的流碰撞模型)多假定恒星被完全瓦解,而理论预期部分瓦解率更高(Bortolas+ 2023),且最近研究质疑了 fallback 假设(Mummery+ 2025)并发展了冷却包层模型(Sarin+ Metzger 2024)。本文用三个重复部分 TDE 首次对多种模型进行独立耀发检验,发现黑洞质量恢复总体自洽,但恒星质量和撞击参数高度简并,凸显了 UV 覆盖和光变采样的重要性;模拟 LSST 巡天显示,在无跟进观测时质量将被低估约 0.5 dex(French+ 2025)。未来需发展更真实的恒星结构模型和部分瓦解物理,结合重复耀发的高时间分辨率数据以及多波段联合拟合(如 Guolo+ 2025),以提升对 LSST 时代海量 TDE 的质量推断精度。
预印本 2026-01-07 · 刊出 2026-07-08 · 收录 2026-07-22