The 2017 detection of the inspiral and merger of two neutron stars in gravitational waves and gamma rays was accompanied by a quickly reddening transient. Such a transient was predicted to occur following a rapid neutron capture (r-process) nucleosynthesis event, which synthesizes neutron-rich, radioactive nuclei and can take place in both dynamical ejecta and in the wind driven off the accretion torus formed after a neutron star merger. In this study, we present the first three-dimensional general relativistic, full transport neutrino radiation magnetohydrodynamics simulations of the black hole-accretion disk-wind system produced by the GW170817 merger. We show that the small but non-negligible optical depths lead to neutrino transport globally coupling the disk electron fraction, which we capture by solving the transport equation with a Monte Carlo method. The resulting absorption drives up the electron fraction in a structured, continuous outflow, with electron fraction as high as Ye ~ 0.4 in the extreme polar region. Finally, we show via nuclear reaction network and radiative transfer calculations that nucleosynthesis in the disk wind will produce a blue kilonova.
Miller, Jonah Maxwell, et al. "Full transport model of GW170817-like disk produces a blue kilonova." Physical Review D, vol. 100, no. 2, Jul. 2019. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.100.023008
Miller, Jonah Maxwell, Ryan, Benjamin Ransom, Dolence, Joshua C., Burrows, Adam, Fontes, Christopher John, Fryer, Christopher Lee, Korobkin, Oleg, Lippuner, Jonas, Mumpower, Matthew Ryan, & Wollaeger, Ryan Thomas (2019). Full transport model of GW170817-like disk produces a blue kilonova. Physical Review D, 100(2). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.100.023008
Miller, Jonah Maxwell, Ryan, Benjamin Ransom, Dolence, Joshua C., et al., "Full transport model of GW170817-like disk produces a blue kilonova," Physical Review D 100, no. 2 (2019), https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.100.023008
@article{osti_1570643,
author = {Miller, Jonah Maxwell and Ryan, Benjamin Ransom and Dolence, Joshua C. and Burrows, Adam and Fontes, Christopher John and Fryer, Christopher Lee and Korobkin, Oleg and Lippuner, Jonas and Mumpower, Matthew Ryan and Wollaeger, Ryan Thomas},
title = {Full transport model of GW170817-like disk produces a blue kilonova},
annote = {The 2017 detection of the inspiral and merger of two neutron stars in gravitational waves and gamma rays was accompanied by a quickly reddening transient. Such a transient was predicted to occur following a rapid neutron capture (r-process) nucleosynthesis event, which synthesizes neutron-rich, radioactive nuclei and can take place in both dynamical ejecta and in the wind driven off the accretion torus formed after a neutron star merger. In this study, we present the first three-dimensional general relativistic, full transport neutrino radiation magnetohydrodynamics simulations of the black hole-accretion disk-wind system produced by the GW170817 merger. We show that the small but non-negligible optical depths lead to neutrino transport globally coupling the disk electron fraction, which we capture by solving the transport equation with a Monte Carlo method. The resulting absorption drives up the electron fraction in a structured, continuous outflow, with electron fraction as high as Ye ~ 0.4 in the extreme polar region. Finally, we show via nuclear reaction network and radiative transfer calculations that nucleosynthesis in the disk wind will produce a blue kilonova.},
doi = {10.1103/PhysRevD.100.023008},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1570643},
journal = {Physical Review D},
issn = {ISSN 2470-0010},
number = {2},
volume = {100},
place = {United States},
publisher = {American Physical Society (APS)},
year = {2019},
month = {07}}
