Issue |
A&A
Volume 639, July 2020
|
|
---|---|---|
Article Number | A15 | |
Number of page(s) | 8 | |
Section | Extragalactic astronomy | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201937115 | |
Published online | 02 July 2020 |
Probing binary neutron star mergers in dense environments using afterglow counterparts
1
Sorbonne Université, CNRS, UMR 7095, Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris, 98 bis boulevard Arago, 75014 Paris, France
e-mail: duque@iap.fr
2
Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Received:
15
November
2019
Accepted:
8
May
2020
The only binary neutron star merger gravitational wave event with detected electromagnetic counterparts recorded to date is GRB170817A. This merger occurred in a rarefied medium with a density smaller than 10−3 − 10−2 cm−3. Since kicks are imparted to neutron star binaries upon formation, and due to their long delay times before merger, such low-density circum-merger media are generally expected. However, there is some indirect evidence for fast-merging or low-kick binaries, which would coalesce in denser environments. Nonetheless, present astronomical data are largely inconclusive on the possibility of these high-density mergers. We describe a method to directly probe this hypothetical population of high-density mergers through multi-messenger observations of binary neutron star merger afterglows, exploiting the high sensitivity of these signals to the density of the merger environment. This method is based on a sample of merger afterglows that has yet to be collected. Its constraining power is large, even with a small sample of events. We discuss the method’s limitations and applicability. In the upcoming era of third-generation gravitational wave detectors, this method’s potential will be fully realized as it will allow us to probe mergers that occurred soon after the peak of cosmic star formation, provided the follow-up campaigns are able to locate the sources.
Key words: gravitational waves / gamma-ray burst: general / stars: neutron / galaxies: ISM
© R. Duque et al. 2020
Open Access article, published by EDP Sciences, under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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