Peak photospheric temperature during shock breakout

Ascertain the precise peak photospheric temperature along different viewing directions during the shock-breakout phase of the ejecta produced by star–disk collisions relevant to quasi-periodic eruptions, overcoming the current simulations’ spatial and temporal resolution limitations.

Background

The study estimates photospheric properties of the ejecta in 3D star–disk collision simulations by locating a τ≈2 surface and inferring temperatures and luminosities along various directions. Due to limited spatial and temporal resolution around the breakout, the earliest and hottest phases are not fully resolved.

As a result, the reported peak temperatures (and associated luminosities) represent lower bounds. Determining the true direction-dependent peak temperature requires higher-resolution and likely radiation-hydrodynamic treatments to capture the brief, hottest breakout phase.

References

However, due to the limited spatial and temporal resolution of our simulations, we cannot determine the precise peak temperature for each direction.

— Resolving Oblique Star-Disk Collisions in Quasi-Periodic Eruptions: Numerical Requirements and the Importance of Geometry  (2604.00953 - Huang et al., 1 Apr 2026) in Subsubsection “Luminosity” (Section 4, 3D simulations)