Magnetically driven shocks from neutron star merger remnants can reheat ejecta to nuclear statistical equilibrium, alter r-process yields, and produce observable changes in kilonova color and light curves.
Full Transport Model of GW170817-Like Disk Produces a Blue Kilonova
3 Pith papers cite this work. Polarity classification is still indexing.
3
Pith papers citing it
abstract
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. We present the first three-dimensional general relativistic, full transport neutrino radiation magnetohydrodynamics (GRRMHD) 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 $Y_e\sim 0.4$ in the extreme polar region. We show via nuclear reaction network and radiative transfer calculations that nucleosynthesis in the disk wind will produce a blue kilonova.
citation-role summary
background 2
citation-polarity summary
fields
astro-ph.HE 3years
2026 3verdicts
UNVERDICTED 3roles
background 2polarities
background 2representative citing papers
In post-merger disks, electron-lepton-number crossings drive fast flavor instabilities that enhance heavy lepton neutrino fluxes, while collisional instabilities are subdominant and asymmetrically raise heavy-flavor antineutrino energies.
A conditional variational autoencoder is trained on public kilonova light curves to enable rapid parameter inference for binary neutron star merger models in under three hours total.
citing papers explorer
-
Effects of magnetically driven shocks on nucleosynthesis and kilonovae from neutron star mergers
Magnetically driven shocks from neutron star merger remnants can reheat ejecta to nuclear statistical equilibrium, alter r-process yields, and produce observable changes in kilonova color and light curves.
-
Neutrino transport and flavor instabilities in a post-merger disk
In post-merger disks, electron-lepton-number crossings drive fast flavor instabilities that enhance heavy lepton neutrino fluxes, while collisional instabilities are subdominant and asymmetrically raise heavy-flavor antineutrino energies.
-
Precise and Rapid Parameter Inference of Kilonova with Conditional Variational Autoencoder
A conditional variational autoencoder is trained on public kilonova light curves to enable rapid parameter inference for binary neutron star merger models in under three hours total.