552 research outputs found
Collapsar Disks and Winds
Winds blown from collapsar accretion disks may produce observable stellar explosions independent of any GRB-(and afterglow)-producing jets which may be simultaneously produced. The production of winds is controlled by the accretion disk physics, in particular, the nature of disk cooling via neutrino emission and photo-disintegration of heavy nuclei. These temperature-dependent processes depend on the stellar angular momentum via the depth of the gravitational potential at the Kepler radius where the disk forms. Wind-driven stellar explosions which do not make a GRB (or only a faint one) may occur and constitute a new class of supernova explosion. SN1998bw and 1997ef may be examples. A key feature of collapsar winds is that they are capable of producing the radioactive ^(56)Ni necessary to power a supernova light curve. It is possible to make a GRB in a star without significant production of ^(56)Ni. Such a star would not make an observable supernova and no such component would be expected in the light curve of the optical afterglow
Off-Axis Afterglow Light Curves from High-Resolution Hydrodynamical Jet Simulations
Numerical jet simulations serve a valuable role in calculating gamma-ray
burst afterglow emission beyond analytical approximations. Here we present the
results of high resolution 2D simulations of decelerating relativistic jets
performed using the RAM adaptive mesh refinement relativistic hydrodynamics
code. We have applied a separate synchrotron radiation code to the simulation
results in order to calculate light curves at frequencies varying from radio to
X-ray for observers at various angles from the jet axis. We provide a
confirmation from radio light curves from simulations rather than from a
simplified jet model for earlier results in the literature finding that only a
very small number of local Ibc supernovae can possibly harbor an orphan
afterglow.
Also, recent studies have noted an unexpected lack of observed jet breaks in
the Swift sample. Using a jet simulation with physical parameters
representative for an average Swift sample burst, such as a jet half opening
angle of 0.1 rad and a source redshift of z = 2.23, we have created synthetic
light curves at 1.5 keV with artificial errors while accounting for Swift
instrument biases as well. A large set of these light curves have been
generated and analyzed using a Monte Carlo approach. Single and broken power
law fits are compared. We find that for increasing observer angle, the jet
break quickly becomes hard to detect. This holds true even when the observer
remains well within the jet opening angle. We find that the odds that a Swift
light curve from a randomly oriented 0.1 radians jet at z = 2.23 will exhibit a
jet break at the 3 sigma level are only 12 percent. The observer angle
therefore provides a natural explanation for the lack of perceived jet breaks
in the Swift sample.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. First of two contributions to proceedings GRB2010
Maryland conference. Editors: McEnery, Racusin and Gehrels. The data from
this paper is publicly available from http://cosmo.nyu.edu/afterglowlibrary
An on-line library of afterglow light curves
Numerical studies of gamma-ray burst afterglow jets reveal significant
qualitative differences with simplified analytical models. We present an
on-line library of synthetic afterglow light curves and broadband spectra for
use in interpreting observational data. Light curves have been calculated for
various physics settings such as explosion energy and circumburst structure, as
well as differing jet parameters and observer angle and redshift. Calculations
gave been done for observer frequencies ranging from low radio to X-ray and for
observer times from hours to decades after the burst. The light curves have
been calculated from high-resolution 2D hydrodynamical simulations performed
with the RAM adaptive-mesh refinement code and a detailed synchrotron radiation
code.
The library will contain both generic afterglow simulations as well as
specific case studies and will be freely accessible at
http://cosmo.nyu.edu/afterglowlibrary . The synthetic light curves can be used
as a check on the accuracy of physical parameters derived from analytical model
fits to afterglow data, to quantitatively explore the consequences of varying
parameters such as observer angle and for accurate predictions of future
telescope data.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. Second of two contributions to proceedings
GRB2010 Maryland conference. Editors: McEnery, Racusin and Gehrels. The data
from this paper is publicly available from
http://cosmo.nyu.edu/afterglowlibrary
MHD simulations of the collapsar model for GRBs
We present results from axisymmetric, time-dependent magnetohydrodynamic
(MHD) simulations of the collapsar model for gamma-ray bursts. Our main
conclusion is that, within the collapsar model, MHD effects alone are able to
launch, accelerate and sustain a strong polar outflow. We also find that the
outflow is Poynting flux-dominated, and note that this provides favorable
initial conditions for the subsequent production of a baryon-poor fireball.Comment: 4 pages, to appear in proceedings of "2003 GRB Conference" (Santa Fe,
NM, September 8-12, 2003), needs aipprocs LaTeX class, movies are available
at http://rocinante.colorado.edu/~proga
GRB afterglow blast wave encountering sudden circumburst density change produces no flares
Afterglows of gamma-ray bursts are observed to produce light curveswith the flux following power law evolution in time. However, recent observations reveal bright flares at times on the order of minutes to days.One proposed explanation for these flares is the interaction of a relativisticblast wave with a circumburst density transition. In this paper, we modelthis type of interaction computationally in one and two dimensions, usinga relativistic hydrodynamics code with adaptive mesh refinement calledram, and analytically in one dimension. We simulate a blast wave travelingin a stellar wind environment that encounters a sudden change indensity, followed by a homogeneous medium, and compute the observedradiation using a synchrotron model. We show that flares are not observablefor an encounter with a sudden density increase, such as a windtermination shock, nor for an encounter with a sudden density decrease.Furthermore, by extending our analysis to two dimensions, we are able toresolve the spreading, collimation, and edge effects of the blast wave as itencounters the change in circumburst medium. In all cases considered inthis paper, we find that a flare will not be observed for any of the densitychanges studied
Magnetically-dominated jets inside collapsing stars as a model for gamma-ray bursts and supernova explosions
It has been suggested that magnetic fields play a dynamically-important role
in core-collapse explosions of massive stars. In particular, they may be
important in the collapsar scenario for gamma-ray bursts (GRB), where the
central engine is a hyper-accreting black hole or a millisecond magnetar. The
present paper is focussed on the magnetar scenario, with a specific emphasis on
the interaction of the magnetar magnetosphere with the infalling stellar
envelope. First, the ``Pulsar-in-a-Cavity'' problem is introduced as a paradigm
for a magnetar inside a collapsing star. The basic set-up of this fundamental
plasma-physics problem is described, outlining its main features, and simple
estimates are derived for the evolution of the magnetic field. In the context
of a collapsing star, it is proposed that, at first, the ram pressure of the
infalling plasma acts to confine the magnetosphere, enabling a gradual build-up
of the magnetic pressure. At some point, the growing magnetic pressure
overtakes the (decreasing) ram pressure of the gas, resulting in a
magnetically-driven explosion. The explosion should be highly anisotropic, as
the hoop-stress of the toroidal field, confined by the surrounding stellar
matter, collimates the magnetically-dominated outflow into two beamed
magnetic-tower jets. This creates a clean narrow channel for the escape of
energy from the central engine through the star, as required for GRBs. In
addition, the delayed onset of the collimated-explosion phase can explain the
production of large quantities of Nickel-56, as suggested by the GRB-Supernova
connection. Finally, the prospects for numerical simulations of this scenario
are discussed.Comment: Invited paper in the "Physics of Plasmas" (May 2007 special issue),
based on an invited talk at the 48th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of
Plasma Physics (Oct. 30 - Nov. 3, 2006, Philadelphia, PA); 24 pages, 7
figure
RAM: A Relativistic Adaptive Mesh Refinement Hydrodynamics Code
We have developed a new computer code, RAM, to solve the conservative
equations of special relativistic hydrodynamics (SRHD) using adaptive mesh
refinement (AMR) on parallel computers. We have implemented a
characteristic-wise, finite difference, weighted essentially non-oscillatory
(WENO) scheme using the full characteristic decomposition of the SRHD equations
to achieve fifth-order accuracy in space. For time integration we use the
method of lines with a third-order total variation diminishing (TVD)
Runge-Kutta scheme. We have also implemented fourth and fifth order Runge-Kutta
time integration schemes for comparison. The implementation of AMR and
parallelization is based on the FLASH code. RAM is modular and includes the
capability to easily swap hydrodynamics solvers, reconstruction methods and
physics modules. In addition to WENO we have implemented a finite volume module
with the piecewise parabolic method (PPM) for reconstruction and the modified
Marquina approximate Riemann solver to work with TVD Runge-Kutta time
integration. We examine the difficulty of accurately simulating shear flows in
numerical relativistic hydrodynamics codes. We show that under-resolved
simulations of simple test problems with transverse velocity components produce
incorrect results and demonstrate the ability of RAM to correctly solve these
problems. RAM has been tested in one, two and three dimensions and in
Cartesian, cylindrical and spherical coordinates. We have demonstrated
fifth-order accuracy for WENO in one and two dimensions and performed detailed
comparison with other schemes for which we show significantly lower convergence
rates. Extensive testing is presented demonstrating the ability of RAM to
address challenging open questions in relativistic astrophysics.Comment: ApJS in press, 21 pages including 18 figures (6 color figures
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