Issue |
A&A
Volume 619, November 2018
|
|
---|---|---|
Article Number | A18 | |
Number of page(s) | 5 | |
Section | Astrophysical processes | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201732259 | |
Published online | 05 November 2018 |
Interpreting GRB170817A as a giant flare from a jet-less double neutron star merger
1
Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Dip. di Fisica “G. Occhialini”, Piazza della Scienza 3, 20126 Milano, Italy
e-mail: omsharan.salafia@brera.inaf.it; omsharan.salafia@gmail.com
2
INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera, via E. Bianchi 46, 23807 Merate, Italy
3
INFN – Sezione di Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 3, 20126 Milano, Italy
Received:
8
November
2017
Accepted:
6
August
2018
We show that the delay between GRB170817A and GW170817 is incompatible with de-beamed emission from an off-axis relativistic jet. The prompt emission and the subsequent radio and X-ray observations can instead be interpreted within a giant-flare-like scenario, being the result of a relativistic outflow driven by the ultra-strong magnetic field produced by magnetohydrodynamic amplification during the merger of the progenitor double neutron-star binary. Within such a picture, the data indicate that the outflow must be endowed with a steep velocity profile, with a relatively fast tail extending to Γ ∼ 8. Since the conditions for the launch of such an outflow are relatively general, and the presence of a velocity profile is a natural expectation of the acceleration process, most neutron star binary mergers should feature this quasi-isotropic, hard X-ray emission component, that could be a powerful guide to the discovery of additional kilonovae associated to relatively nearby gravitational wave events.
Key words: relativistic processes / gamma-ray burst: individual: GRB170817A / stars: neutron / gravitational waves
© ESO 2018
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