Illuminating gravitational waves: A concordant picture of photons from a neutron star merger

Kasliwal, M. M.; Nakar, E.; Singer, L. P.; Kaplan, D. L.; Cook, D. O.; Sistine, A. Van; Lau, R. M.; Fremling, C.; Gottlieb, O.; Jencson, J. E.; Adams, S. M.; Feindt, U.; Hotokezaka, K.; Ghosh, S.; Perley, D. A.; Yu, P.-C.; Piran, T.; Allison, J. R.; Anupama, G. C.; Balasubramanian, A.; Bannister, K. W.; Bally, J.; Barnes, J.; Barway, S.; Bellm, E.; Bhalerao, V.; Bhattacharya, D.; Blagorodnova, N.; Bloom, J. S.; Brady, P. R.; Cannella, C.; Chatterjee, D.; Cenko, S. B.; Cobb, B. E.; Copperwheat, C.; Corsi, A.; De, K.; Dobie, D.; Emery, S. W. K.; Evans, P. A.; Fox, O. D.; Frail, D. A.; Frohmaier, C.; Goobar, A.; Hallinan, G.; Harrison, F.; Helou, G.; Hinderer, T.; Ho, A. Y. Q.; Horesh, A.; Ip, W.-H.; Itoh, R.; Kasen, D.; Kim, H.; Kuin, N. P. M.; Kupfer, T.; Lynch, C.; Madsen, K.; Mazzali, P. A.; Miller, A. A.; Mooley, K.; Murphy, T.; Ngeow, C.-C.; Nichols, D.; Nissanke, S.; Nugent, P.; Ofek, E. O.; Qi, H.; Quimby, R. M.; Rosswog, S.; Rusu, F.; Sadler, E. M.; Schmidt, P.; Sollerman, J.; Steele, I.; Williamson, A. R.; Xu, Y.; Yan, L.; Yatsu, Y.; Zhang, C.; Zhao, W.

doi:10.1126/science.aap9455

articleScienceOct 16, 2017GREEN OA

Illuminating gravitational waves: A concordant picture of photons from a neutron star merger

MMM. M. KasliwalENE. NakarLPL. P. SingerDLD. L. KaplanDOD. O. Cook

California Institute of Technology · Tel Aviv University · +48 more institutions

PubMed

Indexed inarxivcrossrefpubmed

Abstract

Merging neutron stars offer an excellent laboratory for simultaneously studying strong-field gravity and matter in extreme environments. We establish the physical association of an electromagnetic counterpart (EM170817) with gravitational waves (GW170817) detected from merging neutron stars. By synthesizing a panchromatic data set, we demonstrate that merging neutron stars are a long-sought production site forging heavy elements by r-process nucleosynthesis. The weak gamma rays seen in EM170817 are dissimilar to classical short gamma-ray bursts with ultrarelativistic jets. Instead, we suggest that breakout of a wide-angle, mildly relativistic cocoon engulfing the jet explains the low-luminosity gamma rays, the…

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Authors

81

MM
M. M. KasliwalCorresponding
California Institute of Technology
EN
E. Nakar
Tel Aviv University
LP
L. P. Singer
Goddard Space Flight Center, Joint Space Science Institute, University of Maryland, College Park
DL
D. L. Kaplan
University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
DO
D. O. Cook
California Institute of Technology

Topics & keywords

Topics

Keywords

Neutron star
Gravitational wave
Jet (fluid)
Neutron
Gamma-ray burst
Photon
Gravitation
r-process

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