Jean Somalwar

Talk: Jean Somalwar, 3:00pm - 3:30pm
Tidal disruption events in the VLA Sky Survey
The ubiquity of supermassive black holes in galactic centers leads to a cornucopia of dramatic phenomena. One of the most spectacular of these occurs when a star ventures near the SMBH and is shredded in a tidal disruption event (TDE). TDEs produce bright, distinctive, and multi-wavelength flares. These flares have been studied extensively, particularly in the optical and X-ray, and a cohesive picture of their evolution and emission mechanisms is beginning to form. In the radio, on the other hand, observations are lacking and the radio emission mechanisms, the TDE radio luminosity functions, and the factors, both of the host galaxy and disrupted star, that are correlated with radio emission are unknown. We are performing the first blind search for TDEs in the radio using the revolutionary 3 GHz VLA Sky Survey (VLASS). In this talk, I will describe our search and techniques. I will highlight a number of TDE candidates with multiwavelength transient counterparts which are all notably distinct from traditional X-Ray and optical selected events. I will conclude by showing that radio selected TDEs are probing a distinct region of parameter space, both in terms of host galaxy and transient properties, and discuss possible implications for some of the open questions about radio emission from TDEs.