Tidal disruption events from intermediate mass black holes

Intermediate mass black holes (IMBHs), the link between stellar black holes and the supermassive black holes we see at the hearts of local galaxies, are an elusive population. Thought be hidden within the hearts of most dwarf galaxies, they are observationally difficult to detect. To date, only a handful of IMBHs have been discovered. Our limited understanding of the number and density of these events currently hinders our understanding of SMBH growth, galaxy evolution mechanisms and the gravitational wave background.

Tidal disruption events provide a direct way to probe black holes of all masses. In this talk I will present AT2020neh, a fast-rising tidal disruption event located at the heart of a passive dwarf galaxy. Reaching peak luminosity in just 13 days, this remarkable event can be described by the tidal disruption of a main sequence star by a 10^4.7-10^5.9 M? IMBH. I will present the properties of this rare event, and discuss the implications for identifying such events in future optical surveys.