Detection of disk-jet coprecession in a tidal disruption event

Yanan Wang; Zikun Lin; Linhui Wu; Wei-Hua Lei; Shuyuan Wei; Shuang-Nan Zhang; Long Ji; Santiago Del Palacio; Ranieri D Baldi; Yang Huang; Ji-Feng Liu; Bing Zhang; Aiyuan Yang; Ru-Rong Chen; Yangwei Zhang; Ai-Ling Wang; Lei Yang; Panos Charalampopoulos; David R A Williams-Baldwin; Zhu-Heng Yao; Fu-Guo Xie; Defu Bu; Hua Feng; Xinwu Cao; Hongzhou Wu; Wenxiong Li; Erlin Qiao; Giorgos Leloudas; Joseph P Anderson; Xinwen Shu; Dheeraj R Pasham; Hu Zou; Matt Nicholl; Thomas Wevers; Tomás E Müller-Bravo; Jing Wang; Jian-Yan Wei; Yu-Lei Qiu; Wei-Jian Guo; Claudia P Gutiérrez; Mariusz Gromadzki; Cosimo Inserra; Lydia Makrygianni; Francesca Onori; Tanja Petrushevska; Diego Altamirano; Lluís Galbany; Miguel Peréz-Torres; Ting-Wan Chen

doi:10.1126/sciadv.ady9068

Detection of disk-jet coprecession in a tidal disruption event

Yanan Wang
, Zikun Lin
, Linhui Wu
, Wei-Hua Lei
, Shuyuan Wei
, Shuang-Nan Zhang
, Long Ji
, Santiago Del Palacio
, Ranieri D Baldi
, Yang Huang
, Ji-Feng Liu
, Bing Zhang
, Aiyuan Yang
, Ru-Rong Chen
, Yangwei Zhang
, Ai-Ling Wang
, Lei Yang
, Panos Charalampopoulos
, David R A Williams-Baldwin
, Zhu-Heng Yao

Fu-Guo Xie, Defu Bu, Hua Feng, Xinwu Cao, Hongzhou Wu, Wenxiong Li, Erlin Qiao, Giorgos Leloudas, Joseph P Anderson, Xinwen Shu, Dheeraj R Pasham, Hu Zou, Matt Nicholl, Thomas Wevers, Tomás E Müller-Bravo, Jing Wang, Jian-Yan Wei, Yu-Lei Qiu, Wei-Jian Guo, Claudia P Gutiérrez, Mariusz Gromadzki, Cosimo Inserra, Lydia Makrygianni, Francesca Onori, Tanja Petrushevska, Diego Altamirano, Lluís Galbany, Miguel Peréz-Torres, Ting-Wan Chen

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Theories and simulations predict that intense space-time curvature near black holes bends the trajectories of light and matter, driving disk and jet precession under relativistic torques. However, direct observational evidence of disk-jet coprecession remains elusive. Here, we report the most compelling case to date: a tidal disruption event (TDE) exhibiting unprecedented 19.6-day quasi-periodic variations in both x-rays and radio, with x-ray amplitudes exceeding an order of magnitude. The nearly synchronized x-ray and radio variations suggest a shared mechanism regulating the emission regions. We demonstrate that a disk-jet Lense-Thirring precession model successfully reproduces these variations while requiring a low-spin black hole. This study uncovers previously uncharted short-term radio variability in TDEs, highlights the transformative potential of high-cadence radio monitoring, and offers profound insights into disk-jet physics.

Original language	English
Article number	eady9068
Number of pages	15
Journal	Science Advances
Volume	11
Issue number	50
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ady9068
Publication status	Published - 10 Dec 2025

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10.1126/sciadv.ady9068Licence: CC BY-NC

Detection of disk-jet coprecession in a tidal disruption event
© 2026 The Authors. Copyright © 2025 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License 4.0 (CC BY-NC).
Final published version, 1.4 MBLicence: CC BY-NC

Cite this

Wang, Y., Lin, Z., Wu, L., Lei, W.-H., Wei, S., Zhang, S.-N., Ji, L., Del Palacio, S., Baldi, R. D., Huang, Y., Liu, J.-F., Zhang, B., Yang, A., Chen, R.-R., Zhang, Y., Wang, A.-L., Yang, L., Charalampopoulos, P., Williams-Baldwin, D. R. A., ... Chen, T.-W. (2025). Detection of disk-jet coprecession in a tidal disruption event. Science Advances, 11(50), Article eady9068. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ady9068

@article{e93350e27e8e4623b965cd41f329cd30,

title = "Detection of disk-jet coprecession in a tidal disruption event",

abstract = "Theories and simulations predict that intense space-time curvature near black holes bends the trajectories of light and matter, driving disk and jet precession under relativistic torques. However, direct observational evidence of disk-jet coprecession remains elusive. Here, we report the most compelling case to date: a tidal disruption event (TDE) exhibiting unprecedented 19.6-day quasi-periodic variations in both x-rays and radio, with x-ray amplitudes exceeding an order of magnitude. The nearly synchronized x-ray and radio variations suggest a shared mechanism regulating the emission regions. We demonstrate that a disk-jet Lense-Thirring precession model successfully reproduces these variations while requiring a low-spin black hole. This study uncovers previously uncharted short-term radio variability in TDEs, highlights the transformative potential of high-cadence radio monitoring, and offers profound insights into disk-jet physics.",

author = "Yanan Wang and Zikun Lin and Linhui Wu and Wei-Hua Lei and Shuyuan Wei and Shuang-Nan Zhang and Long Ji and \{Del Palacio\}, Santiago and Baldi, \{Ranieri D\} and Yang Huang and Ji-Feng Liu and Bing Zhang and Aiyuan Yang and Ru-Rong Chen and Yangwei Zhang and Ai-Ling Wang and Lei Yang and Panos Charalampopoulos and Williams-Baldwin, \{David R A\} and Zhu-Heng Yao and Fu-Guo Xie and Defu Bu and Hua Feng and Xinwu Cao and Hongzhou Wu and Wenxiong Li and Erlin Qiao and Giorgos Leloudas and Anderson, \{Joseph P\} and Xinwen Shu and Pasham, \{Dheeraj R\} and Hu Zou and Matt Nicholl and Thomas Wevers and M{\"u}ller-Bravo, \{Tom{\'a}s E\} and Jing Wang and Jian-Yan Wei and Yu-Lei Qiu and Wei-Jian Guo and Guti{\'e}rrez, \{Claudia P\} and Mariusz Gromadzki and Cosimo Inserra and Lydia Makrygianni and Francesca Onori and Tanja Petrushevska and Diego Altamirano and Llu{\'i}s Galbany and Miguel Per{\'e}z-Torres and Ting-Wan Chen",

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month = dec,

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doi = "10.1126/sciadv.ady9068",

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Wang, Y, Lin, Z, Wu, L, Lei, W-H, Wei, S, Zhang, S-N, Ji, L, Del Palacio, S, Baldi, RD, Huang, Y, Liu, J-F, Zhang, B, Yang, A, Chen, R-R, Zhang, Y, Wang, A-L, Yang, L, Charalampopoulos, P, Williams-Baldwin, DRA, Yao, Z-H, Xie, F-G, Bu, D, Feng, H, Cao, X, Wu, H, Li, W, Qiao, E, Leloudas, G, Anderson, JP, Shu, X, Pasham, DR, Zou, H, Nicholl, M, Wevers, T, Müller-Bravo, TE, Wang, J, Wei, J-Y, Qiu, Y-L, Guo, W-J, Gutiérrez, CP, Gromadzki, M, Inserra, C, Makrygianni, L, Onori, F, Petrushevska, T, Altamirano, D, Galbany, L, Peréz-Torres, M & Chen, T-W 2025, 'Detection of disk-jet coprecession in a tidal disruption event', Science Advances, vol. 11, no. 50, eady9068. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ady9068

TY - JOUR

T1 - Detection of disk-jet coprecession in a tidal disruption event

AU - Wang, Yanan

AU - Lin, Zikun

AU - Wu, Linhui

AU - Lei, Wei-Hua

AU - Wei, Shuyuan

AU - Zhang, Shuang-Nan

AU - Ji, Long

AU - Del Palacio, Santiago

AU - Baldi, Ranieri D

AU - Huang, Yang

AU - Liu, Ji-Feng

AU - Zhang, Bing

AU - Yang, Aiyuan

AU - Chen, Ru-Rong

AU - Zhang, Yangwei

AU - Wang, Ai-Ling

AU - Yang, Lei

AU - Charalampopoulos, Panos

AU - Williams-Baldwin, David R A

AU - Yao, Zhu-Heng

AU - Xie, Fu-Guo

AU - Bu, Defu

AU - Feng, Hua

AU - Cao, Xinwu

AU - Wu, Hongzhou

AU - Li, Wenxiong

AU - Qiao, Erlin

AU - Leloudas, Giorgos

AU - Anderson, Joseph P

AU - Shu, Xinwen

AU - Pasham, Dheeraj R

AU - Zou, Hu

AU - Nicholl, Matt

AU - Wevers, Thomas

AU - Müller-Bravo, Tomás E

AU - Wang, Jing

AU - Wei, Jian-Yan

AU - Qiu, Yu-Lei

AU - Guo, Wei-Jian

AU - Gutiérrez, Claudia P

AU - Gromadzki, Mariusz

AU - Inserra, Cosimo

AU - Makrygianni, Lydia

AU - Onori, Francesca

AU - Petrushevska, Tanja

AU - Altamirano, Diego

AU - Galbany, Lluís

AU - Peréz-Torres, Miguel

AU - Chen, Ting-Wan

PY - 2025/12/10

Y1 - 2025/12/10

N2 - Theories and simulations predict that intense space-time curvature near black holes bends the trajectories of light and matter, driving disk and jet precession under relativistic torques. However, direct observational evidence of disk-jet coprecession remains elusive. Here, we report the most compelling case to date: a tidal disruption event (TDE) exhibiting unprecedented 19.6-day quasi-periodic variations in both x-rays and radio, with x-ray amplitudes exceeding an order of magnitude. The nearly synchronized x-ray and radio variations suggest a shared mechanism regulating the emission regions. We demonstrate that a disk-jet Lense-Thirring precession model successfully reproduces these variations while requiring a low-spin black hole. This study uncovers previously uncharted short-term radio variability in TDEs, highlights the transformative potential of high-cadence radio monitoring, and offers profound insights into disk-jet physics.

AB - Theories and simulations predict that intense space-time curvature near black holes bends the trajectories of light and matter, driving disk and jet precession under relativistic torques. However, direct observational evidence of disk-jet coprecession remains elusive. Here, we report the most compelling case to date: a tidal disruption event (TDE) exhibiting unprecedented 19.6-day quasi-periodic variations in both x-rays and radio, with x-ray amplitudes exceeding an order of magnitude. The nearly synchronized x-ray and radio variations suggest a shared mechanism regulating the emission regions. We demonstrate that a disk-jet Lense-Thirring precession model successfully reproduces these variations while requiring a low-spin black hole. This study uncovers previously uncharted short-term radio variability in TDEs, highlights the transformative potential of high-cadence radio monitoring, and offers profound insights into disk-jet physics.

U2 - 10.1126/sciadv.ady9068

DO - 10.1126/sciadv.ady9068

M3 - Article

C2 - 41370383

SN - 2375-2548

VL - 11

JO - Science Advances

JF - Science Advances

IS - 50

M1 - eady9068

ER -

Detection of disk-jet coprecession in a tidal disruption event

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