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Accepted manuscript

The radio properties of quasi-periodic X-ray eruption sources

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 September 2025

A. J. Goodwin*
Affiliation:
International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research – Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, WA 6845, Australia
R. Arcodia
Affiliation:
Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
G. Miniutti
Affiliation:
Centro de Astrobiología (CAB), CSIC-INTA, Camino Bajo del Castillo s/n, 28692 Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid, Spain
J. C. A. Miller-Jones
Affiliation:
International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research – Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, WA 6845, Australia
S. van Velzen
Affiliation:
Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, Postbus 9513, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
*
Author for correspondence: A.J. Goodwin, Email: adelle.goodwin@curtin.edu.au.
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Abstract

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Quasi-periodic X-ray eruptions (QPEs) are a new class of repeating nuclear transient in which repeating X-ray flares are observed coming from the nuclei of generally low mass galaxies. Here we present a comprehensive summary of the radio properties of 12 bona-fide quasi-periodic eruption sources, including a mix of known tidal disruption events (TDEs) and AGN-like hosts. We include a combination of new dedicated radio observations and archival/previously published radio observations to compile a catalogue of radio observations of each source in the sample. We examine the overall radio properties of the sample and compare to the radio properties of known TDEs, given the apparent link between QPEs and TDEs. Overall we find compact, weak radio sources associated with 5/12 of the QPE sources and no signatures of strong AGN activity via a luminous radio jet. We find no radio variability on hour- to day-timescales corresponding to the X-ray QPEs, but do detect significant changes over year timescales in some sources, implying that the mechanism that produces the X-ray flares does not generate strong radio-emitting outflows. The compactness of the radio sources and lack of correlation between radio luminosity and SMBH mass is very unusual for AGN, but the radio spectra and luminosities are consistent with outflows produced by a recent TDE (or accretion event), in both the known TDE sources as well as the AGN-like sources in the sample.

Information

Type
Research Article
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Astronomical Society of Australia