Project description
Research could shed more light on what happens when a black hole devours a star
When a star gets too close to a supermassive black hole, it experiences an extreme gravitational pull that shreds it into thin streams of material. A portion of the star's mass can be captured into an accretion disk around the black hole, resulting in a temporary bright flash of visible or infrared light. These events are known as tidal disruptions and contain rich information regarding the mechanisms and conditions at play around black holes in otherwise quiescent galaxies. The EU-funded TackTDEs project will investigate how the geometry of the thin gas stream evolves under the influence of the stellar magnetic field and rotation. Furthermore, it will examine how the black hole spin affects the disc formation process.
Objective
When a star gets too close to a supermassive black hole, it gets disrupted by the strong tidal forces of the compact object. A few dozen of these tidal disruption events (TDEs) have been discovered to date and a much larger number is expected from current and near-future missions. The observed signal contains rich information about the mechanisms and conditions at play around black holes in otherwise quiescent galaxies. A full exploitation of the huge predictive power of TDEs urgently requires to improve our understanding of their dynamics and the associated emission. Through a combination of analytical and numerical tools, the proposed research aims at studying the different phases of these events considering crucial physical processes missing from previous investigations. After the star has been disrupted, the debris evolves into an elongated gas stream that partially falls back towards the black hole. The researcher will determine how the geometry of this matter evolves under the influence of stellar magnetic field and rotation. As this stream comes back to pericentre, general-relativistic effects cause it to self-cross, which initiates the formation of an accretion disc and could participate to the emission of TDEs in the optical and UV bands. The researcher will determine the influence of the black hole spin on this process, focusing on the delay of stream-stream collision induced by Lense-Thirring precession. He will also investigate photon diffusion during disc formation to determine the evolution of the emerging shock-powered lightcurve. After the gas has settled, viscous torques drive the accretion of the stellar matter onto the black hole, producing X-ray radiation. The researcher will study this ultimate phase to evaluate the energy output and the origin of angular momentum transport in TDEs. This work will result in great advances in this research field on the theoretical side that will be used to better exploit observational data.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences physical sciences astronomy observational astronomy optical astronomy
- natural sciences physical sciences astronomy astrophysics black holes
- natural sciences mathematics pure mathematics geometry
- natural sciences physical sciences theoretical physics particle physics photons
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2018
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
1165 KOBENHAVN
Denmark
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.