Tidal capture and repeating partial tidal disruption events of giant stars

¹ School of Astronomy and Space Science, Nanjing University Nanjing 210093, PR China
² Key Laboratory of Modern Astronomy and Astrophysics (Nanjing University), Ministry of Education Nanjing 210093, PR China

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Received: 15 September 2025
Accepted: 16 January 2026

Abstract

When an object is scattered near a supermassive black hole (SMBH), tidal oscillations excited within it reduce its orbital energy, leading to capture by the SMBH. This process, called tidal capture, can also occur when the object closely approaches the SMBH, resulting in a partial tidal disruption event (pTDE). Previous studies on pTDEs of main-sequence stars have shown that as the disruption intensifies, dynamical effects dominate over tidal oscillations, causing the remnant material to acquire a kick velocity instead of being captured by the SMBH. In this work, we performed hydrodynamic numerical simulations of pTDEs involving giant stars. We find that for weaker disruptions, the dynamical behavior of the remnant material resembles that of main-sequence stars. However, as the disruptions deepen, the remnant material transitions from gaining energy to losing energy, leading to capture by the SMBH. This behavior markedly differs from that of main-sequence stars, demonstrating that the presence of a compact core significantly influences the dynamical processes in pTDEs. Our simulations reveal that the energy change in the remnant material strongly correlates with asymmetric mass loss–specifically, the difference in mass outflow between the Lagrange points L₁ and L₂. This suggests that the energy change stems from asymmetric mass loss, consistent with conclusions from previous studies on main-sequence stars. However, a quantitative analysis contradicts earlier models, indicating that the dynamical model of pTDEs requires further refinement. Finally, we discuss the characteristics of repeating pTDEs produced by this process and their potential observability, as well as the implications for the long-term orbital evolution of high-eccentricity, extreme-mass-ratio inspiral systems.