Swift J1644+57: A white dwarf tidally disrupted by a 10⁴ M _⊙ black hole?

We propose that the remarkable object Swift J1644+57, in which multiple recurring hard X-ray flares were seen over a span of several days, is a system in which a white dwarf was tidally disrupted by an intermediate-mass black hole. Disruption of a white dwarf rather than a main-sequence star offers a number of advantages in understanding the multiple, and short, timescales seen in the light curve of this system. In particular, the short internal dynamical timescale of a white dwarf offers a more natural way of understanding the short rise times (100s) observed. The relatively long intervals between flares (5 × 10⁴s) may also be readily understood as the period between successive pericenter passages of the remnant white dwarf. In addition, the expected jet power is larger when a white dwarf is disrupted. If this model is correct, the black hole responsible must have a mass ≲ 10⁵ M _⊙.