The case for a minute-long merger-driven gamma-ray burst from fast-cooling synchrotron emission

Gompertz, B.; Ravasio, M. E.; Nicholl, Matt; Levan, A. J.; Metzger, Brian D.; Oates, S. R.; Lamb, Gavin P.; Fong, W.; Malesani, D.; Rastinejad, J.; Tanvir, N. R.; Evans, P. A.; Jonker, P. G.; Page, K. L.; Pe’er, Asaf

doi:10.1038/s41550-022-01819-4

Cited by 70 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 96 publications

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“…Until recently, a kilonova-like emission with similar luminosity, duration, and color to AT 2017gfo, associated with GRB 211211A and located in a nearby host galaxy SDSS J140910.47 + 275320.8 with a distance ∼350 Mpc, was reported and analyzed by Rastinejad et al (2022), Yang et al (2022), Mei et al (2022), Troja et al (2022), Gompertz et al (2023), and Xiao et al (2022). From the evidence of the host galaxy properties including the offset, the features of the kilonova-like emission, the modeling for the light curves of afterglows and kilonova-like emission, and the exponential decline phase and spectral features in GRB 211211A, most authors suggested or directly considered this association to arise from a compact star merger (Gao et al 2022;Gompertz et al 2023;Mei et al 2022;Rastinejad et al 2022;Troja et al 2022;Xiao et al 2022;Yang et al 2022;Zhang et al 2022;Zhu et al 2022;Chang et al 2023;Kunert et al 2023), while a few authors mainly discussed the explanation or possibility in a collapsar origin (Waxman et al 2022;Barnes & Metzger 2023). The final central engine either a black hole (BH) or magnetar is also under debate.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

GRB 211211A: A Neutron Star–White Dwarf Merger?

Zhong

Dai

2023

ApJL

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The gamma-ray burst GRB 211211A and its associated kilonova-like emission were reported recently. A significant difference between this association event and GRB 170817A/AT 2017gfo is that GRB 211211A has a very long duration. In this Letter, we show that this association event may arise from a neutron star–white dwarf (NS–WD) merger if the central engine leaves a magnetar behind. Within the NS–WD merger, the main burst of GRB 211211A could be produced by magnetic bubble eruptions from toroidal magnetic field amplification of the premerger NS. This toroidal field amplification can be induced by the runaway accretion from the WD debris disk if the disk is in low initial entropy and efficient wind, while the extended emission of GRB 211211A is likely involved with magnetic propelling. The observed energetics and duration of the prompt emission of GRB 211211A can be fulfilled in comparison with those of accretion in a hydrodynamical thermonuclear simulation, as long as the WD has a mass ≳1M ⊙. Moreover, if the X-ray plateau in GRB afterglows is due to the magnetar spin-down radiation, GRB optical afterglows and kilonova-like emission can be jointly well modeled combining the standard forward shock with the radioactive decay power of 56Ni adding a rotational power input from the postmerger magnetar.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

GRB 211211A: A Neutron Star–White Dwarf Merger?

Zhong

Dai

2023

ApJL

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“…This allowed Rastinejad et al (2022) (henceforth R22) to connect the recent GRB 211211A to an NSM (see also Troja et al 2022) despite its long duration: a T 90 of ∼34 s according to the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (Mangan et al 2021), or ∼51 s, as measured by Swiftʼs Burst Alert Telescope (Stamatikos et al 2021). The association was based on the similarity of the optical and near-infrared (NIR) transient that emerged after the burst to the kilonova that arose following GW170817, as well as on the GRB's extended emission, whose duration and spectral evolution mimicked those of the emission observed to follow some sGRBs (e.g., Gompertz et al 2023).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Collapsar Origin for GRB 211211A Is (Just Barely) Possible

Barnes

Metzger

2023

ApJ

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Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have historically been divided into two classes. Short-duration GRBs are associated with binary neutron star mergers (NSMs), while long-duration bursts are connected to a subset of core-collapse supernovae (SNe). GRB 211211A recently made headlines as the first long-duration burst purportedly generated by an NSM. The evidence for an NSM origin was excess optical and near-infrared emission consistent with the kilonova observed after the gravitational-wave-detected NSM GW170817. Kilonovae derive their unique electromagnetic signatures from the properties of the heavy elements synthesized by rapid neutron capture (the r-process) following the merger. Recent simulations suggest that the “collapsar” SNe that trigger long GRBs may also produce r-process elements. While observations of GRB 211211A and its afterglow rule out an SN typical of those that follow long GRBs, an unusual collapsar could explain both the duration of GRB 211211A and the r-process-powered excess in its afterglow. We use semianalytic radiation transport modeling to evaluate low-mass collapsars as the progenitors of GRB 211211A–like events. We compare a suite of collapsar models to the afterglow-subtracted emission that followed GRB 211211A, and find the best agreement for models with high kinetic energies and an unexpected pattern of 56Ni enrichment. We discuss how core-collapse explosions could produce such ejecta, and how distinct our predictions are from those generated by more straightforward kilonova models. We also show that radio observations can distinguish between kilonovae and the more massive collapsar ejecta we consider here.

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“…Notably, some GRBs have contradicted the 2 s divide. Recent exemplars include the temporally short supernova-associated GRB 200826A(Ahumada et al 2021;Zhang et al 2021;Rossi et al 2022b) and the temporally long, nearby kilonova-associated (i.e., strongly suggestive of a neutron star merger origin) GRB 211211A(Rastinejad et al 2022;Troja et al 2022;Gompertz et al 2023). …”

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confidence: 99%

GRB 221009A: The BOAT

Burns

Svinkin

Fenimore

et al. 2023

ApJL

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GRB 221009A has been referred to as the brightest of all time (BOAT). We investigate the veracity of this statement by comparing it with a half century of prompt gamma-ray burst observations. This burst is the brightest ever detected by the measures of peak flux and fluence. Unexpectedly, GRB 221009A has the highest isotropic-equivalent total energy ever identified, while the peak luminosity is at the ∼99th percentile of the known distribution. We explore how such a burst can be powered and discuss potential implications for ultralong and high-redshift gamma-ray bursts. By geometric extrapolation of the total fluence and peak flux distributions, GRB 221009A appears to be a once-in-10,000-year event. Thus, it is almost certainly not the BOAT over all of cosmic history; it may be the brightest gamma-ray burst since human civilization began.

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The case for a minute-long merger-driven gamma-ray burst from fast-cooling synchrotron emission

Cited by 70 publications

References 96 publications

GRB 211211A: A Neutron Star–White Dwarf Merger?

GRB 211211A: A Neutron Star–White Dwarf Merger?

A Collapsar Origin for GRB 211211A Is (Just Barely) Possible

GRB 221009A: The BOAT

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