• Open Access

Linking the rates of neutron star binaries and short gamma-ray bursts

Nikhil Sarin, Paul D. Lasky, Francisco Hernandez Vivanco, Simon P. Stevenson, Debatri Chattopadhyay, Rory Smith, and Eric Thrane
Phys. Rev. D 105, 083004 – Published 12 April 2022

Abstract

Short gamma-ray bursts are believed to be produced by both binary neutron star (BNS) and neutron star-black hole (NSBH) mergers. We use current estimates for the BNS and NSBH merger rates to calculate the fraction of observable short gamma-ray bursts produced through each channel. This allows us to constrain merger rates of a BNS to RBNS=384213+431Gpc3yr1 (90% credible interval), a 16% decrease in the rate uncertainties from the second Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO)-Virgo Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog. Assuming a top-hat emission profile with a large Lorentz factor, we constrain the average opening angle of gamma-ray burst jets produced in BNS mergers to 15°. We also measure the fraction of BNS and NSBH mergers that produce an observable short gamma-ray burst to be 0.020.01+0.02 and 0.01±0.01, respectively, and find that 40% of BNS mergers launch jets (90% confidence). We forecast constraints for future gravitational-wave detections given different modeling assumptions, including the possibility that BNS and NSBH jets are different. With 24 BNS and 55 NSBH observations, expected within six months of the LIGO-Virgo-Kamioka Gravitational Wave Detector network operating at design sensitivity, it will be possible to constrain the fraction of BNS and NSBH mergers that launch jets with 10% precision. Within a year of observations, we can determine whether the jets launched in NSBH mergers have a different structure than those launched in BNS mergers and rule out whether 80% of binary neutron star mergers launch jets. We discuss the implications of future constraints on understanding the physics of short gamma-ray bursts and binary evolution.

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  • Received 20 January 2022
  • Accepted 27 March 2022

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.105.083004

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by Bibsam.

Published by the American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Gravitation, Cosmology & Astrophysics

Authors & Affiliations

Nikhil Sarin1,2,3,4,*, Paul D. Lasky1,2, Francisco Hernandez Vivanco1,2, Simon P. Stevenson5,6, Debatri Chattopadhyay5,6,7, Rory Smith1,2, and Eric Thrane1,2

  • 1School of Physics and Astronomy, Monash University, Vic 3800, Australia
  • 2OzGrav: The ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery, Clayton VIC 3800, Australia
  • 3Nordita, KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Stockholm University Roslagstullsbacken 23, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
  • 4The Oskar Klein Centre, Department of Physics, Stockholm University, AlbaNova, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
  • 5Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn VIC 3122, Australia
  • 6OzGrav: The ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery, Hawthorn VIC 3122, Australia
  • 7School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF24 3AA, United Kingdom

  • *nikhil.sarin@su.se

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Issue

Vol. 105, Iss. 8 — 15 April 2022

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