We present a mechanism based on internal self-annihilation of dark matter accreted from the galactic halo in the inner regions of neutron stars that may trigger the full or partial conversion into a quark star. We explain how this effect may induce a gamma ray burst that could be classified as short, according to the usual definition based on time duration of the prompt gamma-ray emission. This mechanism differs in many aspects from the most discussed scenario associating short gamma-ray bursts with compact object binary mergers. We list possible observational signatures that should help to distinguish between these two possible classes of progenitors.
We systematically investigate the outflow structure of GW170817 in comparison with a sample of 27 cosmological short GRBs by modelling their afterglow light curves. We find that cosmological short GRBs share the same outflow structures with GW170817, relativistic structured jets. The jet opening angle of GW170817 is $6.3^{+1.1}_{-0.6}{}^{\circ}$, which is consistent with that of cosmological short GRBs ($θ_0 = 6.9^\circ \pm 2.3^{\circ}$). Our analysis indicates that GW170817 is viewed off-axis ($θ_{\rm obs} = 30^{+7}_{-4}{}^{\circ}$), while cosmological short GRBs are viewed on-axis ($θ_{\rm o…
The first electromagnetic signal observed in different types of cosmic explosions is released upon emergence of a shock created in the explosion from the opaque envelope enshrouding the central source. Notable examples are the early emission from various types of supernovae and low luminosity GRBs, the prompt photospheric emission in long GRBs, and the gamma-ray emission that accompanied the gravitational wave signal in neutron star mergers. In all of these examples, the shock driven by the explosion is mediated by the radiation trapped inside it, and its velocity and structure, that depend on…
We present our studies on the neutrino pairs annihilation into electron-positron pairs ($ν{\bar ν}\to e^-e^+$) near the surface of a neutron star in the framework of extended theories of gravity. The latter modifies the maximum energy deposition rate near to the photonsphere and it might be several orders of magnitude greater than that computed in the framework of General Relativity. These results provide a rising in the Gamma-Ray Bursts energy emitted from a close binary neutron star system and might be a fingerprint of modified theories of gravity, changing our view of astrophysical phenomen…
GW170817 was the first ever joint detection of gravitational waves (GW) from a binary neutron star (BNS) merger with the detections of short $γ$-ray burst (SGRB) counterparts. Analysis of the multi-band afterglow observations of over more than a year revealed that the outflow from the merger end-product was consistent with structured relativistic jet models with the core of the jet narrowly collimated to half opening angles $\sim5$ deg. In this work, assuming all the BNS mergers produce Gaussian structured jets with properties as inferred for GW170817, we explore the prospects of joint detecti…
Neutron Star Merger Rates from Multi-messenger Observations: Clues to the Physical Origin of the Short and Long-short Gamma-ray Bursts
Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院紫金山天文台）；School of Astronomy and Space Science, University of Science and Technology of China（中国科学技术大学天文与空间科学学院）
Magnetic-distortion-induced ellipticity and gravitational wave radiation of neutron stars: millisecond magnetars in short GRBs, Galactic pulsars, and magnetars
中子星由于磁畸变而可能产生非轴对称形变，是地基干涉测量探测器的连续引力波（GW）源。经过几十年的搜索，使用现有的GW探测器，没有证据表明GW信号来自任何脉冲星。椭圆率的上限越来越严格地限制在银河系的恒星上。在这项工作中，我们使用的椭圆率推断从假定的毫秒磁星在短伽马射线暴（SGRB），以估计其可探测性目前和未来的GW探测器。对于从SGRB数据推断的$\sim 1$ ms磁星，高级LIGO（aLIGO）和爱因斯坦望远镜（ET）的探测视界分别为$\sim 30$ Mpc和$\sim 600$ Mpc。利用SGRB毫秒磁星的椭圆率作为刻度，在假设椭圆率是磁畸变引起的情况下，我们估算了银河系中的毫秒磁星和磁星的椭圆率和引力波应变。我们发现，该结果与aLIGO O 1对银河系恒星和磁星的零探测结果是一致的。我们进一步预测，GW信号从这些恒星/磁星可能无法检测到目前设计的aLIGO探测器。ET检测器可能能够检测来自这些天线中的一些天线的一些相对低频的信号（$<50$ Hz）。受其设计灵敏度的限制，eLISA探测器似乎不适合探测来自银河系恒星和磁星的信号。
Although it has been established observationally beyond doubt that broad-line stripped envelope supernovae (SNe) of type Ic produce long duration gamma ray bursts (GRBs), that neutron star mergers produce short hard GRBs (SHBs), and that phase transition of neutron stars in high mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) may produce SN-Less GRBs, their production mechanism is still debated. The two leading theoretical models of GRBs and their afterglows, the fireball model and the cannonball model, have been widely confronted with the mounting observational data on GRBs and SHBs during the last two decades. …
The recent multi-messenger discovery of binary neutron star (BNS) merger GW170817 showed that $γ$-ray emission in short GRBs is wider than the central energetic narrow cone, and weakly expands out to tens of degrees. Here we explore some of the observational consequences of this structured emission, taking the reconstructed angular emission profile of gamma-ray burst GRB170817A to be typical. We calculate the expected fraction of gravitational-wave observations from BNS mergers that will have an observed GRB counterpart to be $\sim30\%$, implying that joint gravitational-wave and GRB observati…
It is well-known that there are two types of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs): short/hard and long/soft ones, respectively. The long GRBs are coupled to supernovae, but the short ones are associated with the so called macronovae (also known as kilonovae), which can serve as the sources of gravitational waves as well. The kilonovae can arise from the merging of two neutron-stars. The neutron stars can be substituded by more massive black holes as well. Hence, the topic of gamma-ray bursts (mainly the topic of short ones) and the topic of massive binaries, are strongly connected. In this contribution, th…
The luminosity function of short Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) is modelled by using the available catalogue data of all short GRBs (sGRBs) detected till October, 2017. The luminosities are estimated via the `pseudo-redshifts' obtained from the `Yonetoku correlation', assuming a standard delay distribution between the cosmic star formation rate and the production rate of their progenitors. While the simple powerlaw is ruled out to high confidence, the data is fit well both by exponential cutoff powerlaw and broken powerlaw models. Using the derived parameters of these models along with conservative v…
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the most luminous electromagnetic burst in the Universe. They occur when a rapidly rotating massive star collapses or a binary neutron star merges. These events leave a newborn central compact object, either a black hole or neutron star, which launches relativistic jets that emit the luminous gamma-ray signals. These jets can accelerate non-thermal protons, which are expected to produce high-energy neutrinos via photohadronic interactions. This Chapter briefly summarizes the current physical picture of GRBs, and discusses neutrino emissions from GRBs, including both…
Searching for gravitational waves from compact binary mergers powering long gamma-ray bursts during LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA's O3 run
Monash University（莫纳什大学）；OzGrav: The ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery（引力波发现ARC卓越中心）；Princeton University（普林斯顿大学）；University of Cambridge（剑桥大学）
GRBs are the most energetic electromagnetic events in the Universe. Those whose typical duration is longer than a few seconds are known as long GRBs and shorter than a few seconds are short GRBs. It is widely accepted that these events are associated with the collapse of a very massive star and the neutron star (NS) binary merger, respectively. A fast-spinning, strongly magnetized NS could be expected before a black hole (BH) in both scenarios. We allude to the thermal neutrinos' particular properties propagating inside the fireball for differentiating both scenarios in this work. We first der…
It is generally believed that long-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are associated with massive star core-collapse, whereas short-duration GRBs are associated with mergers of compact star binaries. However, growing observations have suggested that oddball GRBs do exist, and multiple criteria (prompt emission properties, supernova/kilonova associations, and host galaxy properties) rather than burst duration only are needed to classify GRBs physically. A previously reported long-duration burst, GRB 060614, could be viewed as a short GRB with extended emission if it were observed at a larger dist…
We perform GRMHD and RMHD simulations of weakly and highly magnetized gamma-ray burst (GRB) jets propagating in binary neutron star (BNS) merger ejecta. Using the simulations, we first find that mixing between the jet and cocoon, which is present in all types of jets, inhibits the formation of subphotospheric collisionless shocks. However, we show that a mild magnetization may lead to the formation of collisionless subshocks which allow efficient proton acceleration. We consider shear acceleration and diffusive shock acceleration at collimation shocks, internal shocks, shock breakout, and exte…
The X-ray afterglow plateau emission observed in many Gamma-ray Bursts (GRBs) has been interpreted as either being fueled by fallback onto a newly formed black hole, or by the spin-down luminosity of an ultra-magnetized millisecond neutron star. If the latter model is assumed, GRB X-ray afterglow light curves can be analytically reproduced. We fit a sample of GRB X-ray plateaus, interestingly yielding a distribution in the magnetic field versus spin period (B-P) diagram consistent with $B\propto P^{7/6}$. This is expected from the well-established physics of the spin-up line minimum period for…
Here we collect three unique bursts, GRBs\,060614, 211211A and 211227A, all characterized by a long-duration main emission (ME) phase and a rebrightening extended emission (EE) phase, to study their observed properties and the potential origin as neutron star-black hole (NSBH) mergers. NS-first-born (BH-first-born) NSBH mergers tend to contain fast-spinning (non-spinning) BHs that more easily (hardly) allow tidal disruption to happen with (without) forming electromagnetic signals. We find that NS-first-born NSBH mergers can well interpret the origins of these three GRBs, supported by that: (1)…
Massive, rapidly-spinning magnetar remnants produced as a result of binary neutron star (BNS) mergers may deposit a fraction of their energy into the surrounding kilonova ejecta, powering a synchrotron radio signal from the interaction of the ejecta with the circumburst medium. We present 6.0 GHz Very Large Array (VLA) observations of nine, low-redshift short gamma-ray bursts (SGRBs; $z<0.5$) on rest-frame timescales of $\approx2.4-13.9$ yr following the bursts. We place $3σ$ limits on radio continuum emission of $F_ν\lesssim6-20\,μ$Jy at the burst positions, or $L_ν\lesssim(0.6-8.3)\times10^{…
A plateau phase in the X-ray afterglow is observed in a significant fraction of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Previously, it has been found that there exists a correlation among three key parameters concerning the plateau phase, i.e., the end time of the plateau phase in the GRB rest frame ($T_{a}$), the corresponding X-ray luminosity at the end time ($L_{X}$) and the isotropic energy of the prompt GRB ($E_{γ,\rm{iso}}$). In this study, we systematically search through all the \emph{Swift} GRBs with a plateau phase that occurred between 2005 May and 2018 August. We collect 174 GRBs, with redshifts …
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have been phenomenologically classified into long and short populations based on the observed bimodal distribution of duration. Multi-wavelength and multi-messenger observations in recent years have revealed that in general long GRBs originate from massive star core collapse events, whereas short GRBs originate from binary neutron star mergers. It has been known that the duration criterion is sometimes unreliable, and multi-wavelength criteria are needed to identify the physical origin of a particular GRB. Some apparently long GRBs have been suggested to have a neutron …
Pre-merger alert to detect the very-high-energy prompt emission from binary neutron-star mergers: Einstein Telescope and Cherenkov Telescope Array synergy
The joint detection of gravitational waves (GWs) and $γ$-rays from a binary neutron-star (NS) merger provided a unique view of off-axis GRBs and an independent measurement of the NS merger rate. Comparing the observations of GRB170817 with those of the regular population of short GRBs (sGRBs), we show that an order unity fraction of NS mergers result in sGRB jets that breakout of the surrounding ejecta. We argue that the luminosity function of sGRBs, peaking at $\approx 2\times 10^{52}\, \mbox{erg s}^{-1}$, is likely an intrinsic property of the sGRB central engine and that sGRB jets are typic…
The separation of the gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) into short/hard and long/soft subclasses, respectively, is well supported both theoretically and observationally. The long ones are coupled to supernovae type Ib/Ic - the short ones are connected to the merging of two neutron stars, where one or even both neutron stars can be substituted by black holes. These short GRBs - as merging binaries - can also serve as the sources of gravitation waves, and are observable as the recently detected macronovae. Since 1998 there are several statistical studies suggesting the existence of more than two subgroups…
It has been observationally established that supernovae (SNe) of Type Ic produce long duration gamma ray bursts (GRBs) and that neutron star mergers generate short hard GRBs. SN-Less GRBs presumably originate in a phase transition of a neutron star in a high mass X-ray binary. How these phenomena actually generate GRBs is debated. The fireball and cannonball models of GRBs and their afterglows have been widely confronted with the huge observational data, with their defenders claiming success. The claims, however, may reflect multiple choices and the use of many adjustable parameters, rather th…
The jet breaks in the afterglow lightcurves of short gamma-ray bursts (SGRBs), rarely detected so far, are crucial for estimating the half-opening angles of the ejecta ($θ_{\rm j}$) and hence the neutron star merger rate. In this work we report the detection of jet decline behaviors in GRB 150424A and GRB 160821B and find $θ_{\rm j}\sim 0.1$ rad. Together with five events reported before 2015 and other three "identified" recently (GRB 050709, GRB 060614 and GRB 140903A), we have a sample consisting of nine SGRBs and one long-short GRB with reasonably estimated $θ_{\rm j}$. In particular, three…
Here we present a low frequency (170-200MHz) search for coherent radio emission associated with nine short GRBs detected by the Swift and/or Fermi satellites using the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) rapid-response observing mode. The MWA began observing these events within 30 to 60s of their high-energy detection, enabling us to capture any dispersion delayed signals emitted by short GRBs for a typical range of redshifts. We conducted transient searches at the GRB positions on timescales of 5s, 30s and 2min, resulting in the most constraining flux density limits on any associated transient of…
Cosmological Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) are known to arise from distinct progenitor channels: short GRBs mostly from neutron star mergers and long GRBs from a rare type of core-collapse supernova (CCSN) called collapsars. Highly magnetized neutron stars called magnetars also generate energetic, short-duration gamma-ray transients called Magnetar Giant Flares (MGFs). Three have been observed from the Milky Way and its satellite galaxies and they have long been suspected to contribute a third class of extragalactic GRBs. We report the unambiguous identification of a distinct population of 4 local (…
