Speaker
Wenbin Lu
(UC Berkeley)
Description
We propose that quasi-periodic eruptions (QPEs) in galactic nuclei are produced by a low-mass main-sequence star in a mildly eccentric (e ~ 0.5) orbit. We argue that the QPE emission is powered by circularization shocks, but not directly by black hole accretion. The stellar orbits needed to explain QPEs can be efficiently created by the Hills breakup of tight stellar binaries.
Primary authors
Wenbin Lu
(UC Berkeley)
Prof.
Eliot Quataert
(Princeton University)
