Quasi-periodic Eruptions from Helium Envelope of Hydrogen-deficient Stars Stripped by Supermassive Black Holes

Understand

Quasi-periodic eruptions (QPEs), which are a new kind of X-ray bursts with a recurrence time of several hours, have been detected from supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in galactic nuclei.

• Recently, the two QPEs discovered by the \textit{eROSITA} show asymmetric light curves with a fast rise and a slow decline.
• Current models cannot explain the observational characteristics of QPEs.
• Here we show that QPEs can be generated from the Roche lobe overflows at each periapsis passage of an evolved star orbiting an SMBH.