Modelling quantum aspects of disruption of a white dwarf star by a black hole

We study the final stages of the evolution of a binary system consisted of a black hole and a white dwarf star. We implement the quantum hydrodynamic equations and carry out numerical simulations. As a model of a white dwarf star we consider a zero temperature droplet of attractively interacting degenerate atomic bosons and spin-polarized atomic fermions. Such mixtures are investigated experimentally nowadays. We find that the white dwarf star is stripped off its mass while passing the periastron. Due to nonlinear effects, the accretion disk originated from the white dwarf becomes fragmented and the onset of a quantum turbulence with giant quantized vortices present in the bosonic component of the accretion disk is observed. The binary system ends its life in a spectacular way, revealing quantum features underlying the white dwarf star’s structure. We find a charged mass, falling onto a black hole, could be responsible for recently discovered ultraluminous X-ray bursts. The simulations show that final passage of a white dwarf near a black hole can cause a gamma-ray burst.

Instability of plasma waves caused by incoherent photons in dense plasmas

We consider the nonlinear instability of modified Langmuir and ion–sound waves caused by partially coherent photons in dense quantum plasmas. In our model, the dynamics of the photons is governed by a wave kinetic equation. The evolution equations for the Langmuir and ion–sound waves are deduced from the quantum hydrodynamic equations accounting for the incoherent photon pressure, the quantum statistical electron pressure, and the quantum Bohm force acting on the degenerate electrons. The governing equations are Fourier analyzed to obtain nonlinear dispersion relations. The latter are analyzed to predict instability of the modified Langmuir and ion–sound waves in the presence of partially coherent photons. Possible applications of our investigation to the next generation of intense laser–solid dense plasma experiments and compact dense astrophysical bodies are mentioned.