Magnetic Burial in Millisecond Magnetars and Late GRB Afterglow Signatures

Fuente: arXiv
Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Fraija, Nissim, Bernal, Cristian Giovanni, Galván, Antonio, Betancourt-Kamenetskaia, Boris, Dainotti, Maria Giovanna
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2025
Materias:
Acceso en línea:
Etiquetas: Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
_version_ 1866908404025393152
author Fraija, Nissim
Bernal, Cristian Giovanni
Galván, Antonio
Betancourt-Kamenetskaia, Boris
Dainotti, Maria Giovanna
author_facet Fraija, Nissim
Bernal, Cristian Giovanni
Galván, Antonio
Betancourt-Kamenetskaia, Boris
Dainotti, Maria Giovanna
contents Millisecond magnetars, one of the potential candidates for the central engine of Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), can experience significant magnetic field enhancement shortly after their formation. In some cases, this evolution is further influenced by the accretion of stellar debris, which modifies the dipole magnetic field strength. During a hypercritical accretion phase that lasts seconds or longer after the progenitor explosion, a thin crust may form, submerging the magnetic field (the so-called magnetic burial scenario). Once hypercritical accretion ceases, the buried field can diffuse back through the crust, delaying the external dipole's reactivation. On the other hand, observations have shown that relativistic outflows ejected by these objects and decelerated by the circumburst environment cause a late and temporary emission known as afterglow. This work investigates how the submergence and subsequent reemergence of the magnetar magnetic field, on a few years timescales, affect the GRB afterglow dynamics. Specifically, we apply this phenomenological scenario to the late-time X-ray excess observed approximately three years post-burst in GW170817/GRB 170817A, exploring how the evolving magnetic field strength may contribute to this emission. Our modelling of GRB 170817A indicates that $\gtrsim90$ percent of the external dipole flux was initially buried, re-emerging on a timescale $τ_{B}=3-40$ yr and restoring a surface field $B\simeq(2-5)\times10^{15}\,$G; the late-time X-ray brightening is far better reproduced by this scenario than by models without burial.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_09402
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Magnetic Burial in Millisecond Magnetars and Late GRB Afterglow Signatures
Fraija, Nissim
Bernal, Cristian Giovanni
Galván, Antonio
Betancourt-Kamenetskaia, Boris
Dainotti, Maria Giovanna
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Millisecond magnetars, one of the potential candidates for the central engine of Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), can experience significant magnetic field enhancement shortly after their formation. In some cases, this evolution is further influenced by the accretion of stellar debris, which modifies the dipole magnetic field strength. During a hypercritical accretion phase that lasts seconds or longer after the progenitor explosion, a thin crust may form, submerging the magnetic field (the so-called magnetic burial scenario). Once hypercritical accretion ceases, the buried field can diffuse back through the crust, delaying the external dipole's reactivation. On the other hand, observations have shown that relativistic outflows ejected by these objects and decelerated by the circumburst environment cause a late and temporary emission known as afterglow. This work investigates how the submergence and subsequent reemergence of the magnetar magnetic field, on a few years timescales, affect the GRB afterglow dynamics. Specifically, we apply this phenomenological scenario to the late-time X-ray excess observed approximately three years post-burst in GW170817/GRB 170817A, exploring how the evolving magnetic field strength may contribute to this emission. Our modelling of GRB 170817A indicates that $\gtrsim90$ percent of the external dipole flux was initially buried, re-emerging on a timescale $τ_{B}=3-40$ yr and restoring a surface field $B\simeq(2-5)\times10^{15}\,$G; the late-time X-ray brightening is far better reproduced by this scenario than by models without burial.
title Magnetic Burial in Millisecond Magnetars and Late GRB Afterglow Signatures
topic High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.09402