Electromagnetic counterparts of compact object mergers powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei

被引:915
作者
Metzger, B. D. [1 ]
Martinez-Pinedo, G. [2 ]
Darbha, S. [3 ,4 ]
Quataert, E. [3 ,4 ]
Arcones, A. [2 ,5 ]
Kasen, D. [6 ]
Thomas, R. [7 ]
Nugent, P. [7 ]
Panov, I. V. [8 ,9 ,10 ]
Zinner, N. T. [11 ]
机构
[1] Princeton Univ, Dept Astrophys Sci, Princeton, NJ 08544 USA
[2] GSI Helmholtzzentrum Schwerionenforsch, D-64291 Darmstadt, Germany
[3] Univ Calif Berkeley, Dept Astron, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
[4] Univ Calif Berkeley, Theoret Astrophys Ctr, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
[5] Tech Univ Darmstadt, Inst Kernphys, D-64289 Darmstadt, Germany
[6] Univ Calif Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 USA
[7] Univ Calif Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley Lab, Computat Cosmol Ctr, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
[8] Univ Basel, Dept Phys, CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland
[9] Inst Theoret & Expt Phys, Moscow 117259, Russia
[10] Russian Res Ctr, Kurchatov Inst, Moscow 123182, Russia
[11] Harvard Univ, Dept Phys, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA
基金
瑞士国家科学基金会;
关键词
gravitation; nuclear reactions; nucleosynthesis; abundances; binaries: close; gamma-ray burst: general; stars: neutron; supernovae: general;
D O I
10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.16864.x
中图分类号
P1 [天文学];
学科分类号
0704 ;
摘要
The most promising astrophysical sources of kHz gravitational waves (GWs) are the inspiral and merger of binary neutron star(NS)/black hole systems. Maximizing the scientific return of a GW detection will require identifying a coincident electromagnetic (EM) counterpart. One of the most likely sources of isotropic EM emission from compact object mergers is a supernova-like transient powered by the radioactive decay of heavy elements synthesized in ejecta from the merger. We present the first calculations of the optical transients from compact object mergers that self-consistently determine the radioactive heating by means of a nuclear reaction network; using this heating rate, we model the light curve with a one-dimensional Monte Carlo radiation transfer calculation. For an ejecta mass similar to 10-2 M(circle dot) (10-3 M(circle dot)) the resulting light-curve peaks on a time-scale similar to 1 d at a V-band luminosity nu L(nu) similar to 3 x 1041 (1041) erg s-1 [M(V) = -15(-14)]; this corresponds to an effective 'f' parameter similar to 3 x 10-6 in the Li-Paczynski toy model. We argue that these results are relatively insensitive to uncertainties in the relevant nuclear physics and to the precise early-time dynamics and ejecta composition. Since NS merger transients peak at a luminosity that is a factor of similar to 103 higher than a typical nova, we propose naming these events 'kilo-novae'. Because of the rapid evolution and low luminosity of NS merger transients, EM counterpart searches triggered by GW detections will require close collaboration between the GW and astronomical communities. NS merger transients may also be detectable following a short-duration gamma-ray burst or 'blindly' with present or upcoming optical transient surveys. Because the emission produced by NS merger ejecta is powered by the formation of rare r-process elements, current optical transient surveys can directly constrain the unknown origin of the heaviest elements in the Universe.
引用
收藏
页码:2650 / 2662
页数:13
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