Nucleosynthesis in Outflows from Black Hole–Neutron Star Merger Disks with Full GR(ν)RMHD

Curtis, Sanjana; Miller, Jonah; Fröhlich, C.; Sprouse, Trevor; Lloyd-Ronning, Nicole M.; Mumpower, Matthew

doi:10.3847/2041-8213/acba16

Cited by 12 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…Further multi-messenger observations of BNS mergers will greatly improve the study conducted here. Moreover, we anticipate other developments that will enable more accurate modeling of BNS mergers and the composition of their ejecta, including advances in astrophysical simulations (e.g., Curtis et al 2023;Foucart et al 2023;Zappa et al 2023), nuclear experiments that will probe the physics of dense matter (Sorensen et al 2023) and the properties of increasingly exotic nuclei (e.g., Crawford et al 2022;Orford et al 2022), and improvements to the theoretical treatment of microphysics such as neutrino emission, absorption, and oscillations (e.g., Gizzi et al 2021;Balantekin et al 2023;Grohs et al 2023). Current and future surveys such as LSST, Roman, Zwicky Transient Facility, and ATLAS will enable greater studies of these rare phenomena.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Could a Kilonova Kill: A Threat Assessment

Perkins,

Ellis,

Fields

et al. 2024

ApJ

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Binary neutron star mergers produce high-energy emissions from several physically different sources, including a gamma-ray burst (GRB) and its afterglow, a kilonova (KN), and, at late times, a remnant many parsecs in size. Ionizing radiation from these sources can be dangerous for life on Earth-like planets when located too close. Work to date has explored the substantial danger posed by the GRB to on-axis observers; here we focus instead on the potential threats posed to nearby off-axis observers. Our analysis is based largely on observations of the GW170817/GRB 170817A multi-messenger event, as well as theoretical predictions. For baseline KN parameters, we find that the X-ray emission from the afterglow may be lethal out to ∼1 pc and the off-axis gamma-ray emission may threaten a range out to ∼4 pc, whereas the greatest threat comes years after the explosion, from the cosmic rays accelerated by the KN blast, which can be lethal out to distances up to ∼11 pc. The distances quoted here are typical, but the values have significant uncertainties and depend on the viewing angle, ejected mass, and explosion energy in ways we quantify. Assessing the overall threat to Earth-like planets, KNe have a similar kill distance to supernovae, but are far less common. However, our results rely on the scant available KN data, and multi-messenger observations will clarify the danger posed by such events.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Could a Kilonova Kill: A Threat Assessment

Perkins,

Ellis,

Fields

et al. 2024

ApJ

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“…Subsequent studies of the physics behind these light curves have demonstrated the difficulties in determining the exact yields from the existing observations (Tanaka et al 2018(Tanaka et al , 2020Wollaeger et al 2018Wollaeger et al , 2021Even et al 2020;Fontes et al 2020; Barnes et al 2021). Simulations of the ejecta both during the merger and the subsequent accretion disk argue that the r-process can be produced throughout the merger (Miller et al 2019b;Curtis et al 2023;Kullmann et al 2023), but the mass and composition of this ejecta remains uncertain. These uncertainties must be characterized to use existing and future observations to determine the r-process yields from neutron star mergers and determine their role in r-process production in the Galaxy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of the Velocity Distribution on Kilonova Emission

Fryer,

Hungerford,

Wollaeger

et al. 2024

ApJ

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The electromagnetic emission from the nonrelativistic ejecta launched in neutron star mergers (either dynamically or through a disk wind) has the potential to probe both the total mass and composition of this ejecta. These observations are crucial in understanding the role of these mergers in the production of r-process elements in the Universe. However, many properties of the ejecta can alter the light curves and we must both identify which properties play a role in shaping this emission and understand the effects these properties have on the emission before we can use observations to place strong constraints on the amount of r-process elements produced in the merger. This paper focuses on understanding the effect of the velocity distribution (amount of mass moving at different velocities) for lanthanide-rich ejecta on the light curves and spectra. The simulations use distributions guided by recent calculations of disk outflows and compare the velocity-distribution effects to those of ejecta mass, velocity, and composition. Our comparisons show that uncertainties in the velocity distribution can lead to a factor of 2–4 uncertainties in the inferred ejecta mass based on peak infrared luminosities. We also show that early-time UV or optical observations may be able to constrain the velocity distribution, reducing the uncertainty in the ejecta mass.

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“…In neutron star mergers, disk ejecta may be accompanied by dynamical ejecta (Dietrich & Ujevic 2017;Radice et al 2018) that is also sensitive to neutrino physics (Foucart et al 2023). Accretion disks from the merger of a neutron star-black hole binary are also found to be favorable sites of the r-process (Siegel & Metzger 2017;De & Siegel 2021;Murguia-Berthier et al 2021;Curtis et al 2023).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emergent Nucleosynthesis from a 1.2 s Long Simulation of a Black Hole Accretion Disk

Sprouse,

Lund,

Miller

et al. 2024

ApJ

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We simulate a black hole accretion disk system with full-transport general relativistic neutrino radiation magnetohydrodynamics for 1.2 s. This system is likely to form after the merger of two compact objects and is thought to be a robust site of r-process nucleosynthesis. We consider the case of a black hole accretion disk arising from the merger of two neutron stars. Our simulation time coincides with the nucleosynthesis timescale of the r-process (∼1 s). Because these simulations are time-consuming, it is common practice to run for a “short” duration of approximately 0.1–0.3 s. We analyze the nucleosynthetic outflow from this system and compare the results of stopping at 0.12 and 1.2 s. We find that the addition of mass ejected in the longer simulation as well as more favorable thermodynamic conditions from emergent viscous ejecta greatly impacts the nucleosynthetic outcome. We quantify the error in nucleosynthetic outcomes between short and long cuts.

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Nucleosynthesis in Outflows from Black Hole–Neutron Star Merger Disks with Full GR(ν)RMHD

Cited by 12 publications

References 64 publications

Could a Kilonova Kill: A Threat Assessment

Could a Kilonova Kill: A Threat Assessment

The Effect of the Velocity Distribution on Kilonova Emission

Emergent Nucleosynthesis from a 1.2 s Long Simulation of a Black Hole Accretion Disk

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