Abstract: Tidal disruption events (TDEs), in which stars are torn apart by the tidal force from massive black holes, provide good opportunities for probing massive black hole demographics. Furthermore, TDEs are ideal laboratories for studying black hole accretion and jet physics. In this talk, I will first give an introduction to the TDE physics, followed by a summary of current observations. Then I will focus on our latest theoretical work on understanding the diversity, evolution and demographics of TDEs.

Bio: Prof. Lixin Dai is an assistant professor at the Department of Physics of The University of Hong Kong. Her work focuses on black hole astrophysics, including tidal disruption events, black hole accretion, jets, and X-ray reverberation. She received her undergraduate degree from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and PhD degree at the Stanford University. Before working in Hong Kong, she worked at the University of Copenhagen as an assistant professor, where she currently holds the Sophie and Tycho Brahe Visiting Professorship. She has received various awards, including the Block Award from the Aspen Physics Center and the NSFC National Excellent Young Scientist program.