Nonlinear Alfvén-wave Dynamics and Premerger Emission from Crustal Oscillations in Neutron Star Mergers

Fuente: arXiv
Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Hauptverfasser: Most, Elias R., Kim, Yoonsoo, Chatziioannou, Katerina, Legred, Isaac
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2024
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
_version_ 1866909328284319744
author Most, Elias R.
Kim, Yoonsoo
Chatziioannou, Katerina
Legred, Isaac
author_facet Most, Elias R.
Kim, Yoonsoo
Chatziioannou, Katerina
Legred, Isaac
contents Neutron stars have solid crusts threaded by strong magnetic fields. Perturbations in the crust can excite non-radial oscillations, which can in turn launch Alfven waves into the magnetosphere. In the case of a compact binary close to merger involving at least one neutron star, this can happen through tidal interactions causing resonant excitations that shatter the neutron star crust. We present the first numerical study that elucidates the dynamics of Alfven waves launched in a compact binary magnetosphere. We seed a magnetic field perturbation on the neutron star crust, which we then evolve in fully general-relativistic force-free electrodynamics using a GPU-based implementation. We show that Alfven waves steepen nonlinearly before reaching the orbital light cylinder, form flares, and dissipate energy in a transient current sheet. Our results predict radio and X-ray precursor emission from this process.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2407_17026
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Nonlinear Alfvén-wave Dynamics and Premerger Emission from Crustal Oscillations in Neutron Star Mergers
Most, Elias R.
Kim, Yoonsoo
Chatziioannou, Katerina
Legred, Isaac
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Plasma Physics
Neutron stars have solid crusts threaded by strong magnetic fields. Perturbations in the crust can excite non-radial oscillations, which can in turn launch Alfven waves into the magnetosphere. In the case of a compact binary close to merger involving at least one neutron star, this can happen through tidal interactions causing resonant excitations that shatter the neutron star crust. We present the first numerical study that elucidates the dynamics of Alfven waves launched in a compact binary magnetosphere. We seed a magnetic field perturbation on the neutron star crust, which we then evolve in fully general-relativistic force-free electrodynamics using a GPU-based implementation. We show that Alfven waves steepen nonlinearly before reaching the orbital light cylinder, form flares, and dissipate energy in a transient current sheet. Our results predict radio and X-ray precursor emission from this process.
title Nonlinear Alfvén-wave Dynamics and Premerger Emission from Crustal Oscillations in Neutron Star Mergers
topic High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Plasma Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2407.17026