Revised Rates of Stellar Disruption in Galactic Nuclei

We compute rates of tidal disruption of stars by supermassive black holes in galactic nuclei, using downwardly revised black hole masses from the MBH-σ relation. In galaxies with steep nuclear density profiles, which dominate the overall event rate, the disruption frequency varies inversely with assumed black hole mass. We compute a total rate for nondwarf galaxies of ~10-5 yr-1 Mpc-3, about a factor of 10 higher than in earlier studies. Disruption rates are predicted to be highest in nucleated dwarf galaxies, assuming that such galaxies contain black holes. Monitoring of a rich galaxy cluster for a few years could rule out the existence of intermediate-mass black holes in dwarf galaxies.

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