Physics – Nuclear Physics
Scientific paper
Feb 2010
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010head...11.2701m&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, HEAD meeting #11, #27.01; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 41, p.698
Physics
Nuclear Physics
Scientific paper
The inspiral and coalescence of tight neutron star (NS) and black hole (BH) binaries are thought to be among the most promising sources for the direct detection of gravitational waves (GWs) with ground-based interferometers such as LIGO and Virgo. Optimizing the benefits of a GW detection will, however, require identifying a coincident electromagnetic (EM) signal. One possible source for EM emission from NS-NS/NS-BH mergers is a short-duration gamma-ray burst (GRB), powered by the accretion of material that remains in a centrifugally-supported torus around the BH following the merger. I will review the theoretical and observational status of the connection between short GRBs and NS-NS/NS-BH mergers, focusing in particular on models for the viscous and thermal evolution of the remnant disk, and on the puzzling discovery that many short GRBs are followed by extended X-ray flaring lasting for roughly 100 seconds after the GRB. This extended emission is difficult to understand within the standard merger paradigm and may require modifying or considering alternative short GRB progenitor models. Another mechanism for producing EM emission from NS-NS/NS-BH mergers is via a supernova-like optical transient powered by the radioactive decay of heavy nuclei synthesized in neutron-rich merger ejecta. I will present the first calculations of the radioactively-powered transients from mergers that include both realistic nuclear physics and radiative transport. I will discuss the prospects for their detection and identification with present and upcoming optical transient surveys via GW follow-up, or even independent of a GW trigger.
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