LOFAR early-time search for coherent radio emission from short GRB 181123B

The mergers of two neutron stars are typically accompanied by broad-band electromagnetic emission from either a relativistic jet or a kilonova. It has also been long predicted that coherent radio emission will occur during the merger phase or from a newly formed neutron star remnant; however, this emission has not been seen to date. This paper presents the deepest limits for this emission from a neutron star merger, following triggered LOFAR observations of the short gamma-ray burst 181123B, starting 4.4 min after the GRB occurred. During the X-ray plateau phase, a signature of ongoing energy injection, we detect no radio emission to a 3σ limit of 153 mJy at 144 MHz (image integration time of 136 s), which is significantly fainter than the predicted emission from a standard neutron star. At a redshift of 1.8, this corresponds to a luminosity of 2.5 × 1044 erg s−1. Snapshot images were made of the radio observation on a range of time-scales, targeting short-duration radio flashes similar to fast radio bursts. No emission was detected in the snapshot images at the location of GRB 181123B enabling constraints to be placed on the prompt coherent radio emission model and emission predicted to occur when a neutron star collapses to form a black hole. At the putative host redshift of 1.8 for GRB 181123B, the non-detection of the prompt radio emission is two orders of magnitude lower than expected for magnetic reconnection models for prompt GRB emission and no magnetar emission is expected

A LOFAR prompt search for radio emission accompanying X-ray flares in GRB 210112A

The composition of relativistic gamma-ray burst (GRB) jets and their emission mechanisms are still debated, and they could be matter or magnetically dominated. One way to distinguish these mechanisms arises because a Poynting flux dominated jet may produce low-frequency radio emission during the energetic prompt phase, through magnetic reconnection at the shock front. We present a search for radio emission coincident with three GRB X-ray flares with the LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR), in a rapid response mode follow-up of long GRB 210112A (at z ∼ 2) with a 2 h duration, where our observations began 511 s after the initial Swift-BAT trigger. Using time-sliced imaging at 120–168 MHz, we obtain upper limits at 3σ confidence of 42 mJy averaging over 320 s snapshot images, and 87 mJy averaging over 60 s snapshot images. LOFAR’s fast response time means that all three potential radio counterparts to X-ray flares are observable after accounting for dispersion at the estimated source redshift. Furthermore, the radio pulse in the magnetic wind model was expected to be detectable at our observing frequency and flux density limits which allows us to disfavour a region of parameter space for this GRB. However, we note that stricter constraints on redshift and the fraction of energy in the magnetic field are required to further test jet characteristics across the GRB population.</p