The color evolution of magnetar-powered kilonova emission in merging neutron star-neutron star systems

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Wang, Suo-Ning, Lü, Hou-Jun, Liu, Xiao-Xuan, Rice, Jared, Ren, Jia, Liang, En-Wei
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866912546450046976
author Wang, Suo-Ning
Lü, Hou-Jun
Liu, Xiao-Xuan
Rice, Jared
Ren, Jia
Liang, En-Wei
author_facet Wang, Suo-Ning
Lü, Hou-Jun
Liu, Xiao-Xuan
Rice, Jared
Ren, Jia
Liang, En-Wei
contents The first direct detection of the gravitational wave (GW) event GW170817 and its electromagnetic (EM) counterpart open a new window for studying of multi-messenger astronomy. However, how to identify the remnant of binary neutron star (NS) merger via EM radiation remain an open question. In this paper, we propose a method of color evolution of kilonova emission to identify its progenitors. We assume that the energy of the kilonova is contributed from radioactive decay, magnetar spin-down, and pulsar wind nebula (PWN). The color evolution of kilonova emission associated with short GRB is significant when the spectrum is thermal emission, while it tends towards a constant when the spectrum is non-thermal radiation. On the other hand, if the central engine is a black hole (BH) which is promptly generated by the NS-NS merger or NS-BH merger, then the kilonova is powered only by the radioactive decay. There is no color evolution at the beginning before the peak of kilonova emission, but is significantly and rapidly increasing after the peak. On the contrary, if the central engine is a magnetar or stable NS, the kilonova emission is contributed from radioactive decay, magnetar, and PWN. The color evolution after the peak of kilonova emission is complex behavior which depends on the rotational energy and spin-down time-scale of magnetar, and finally tend to a constant in the late state.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2508_15235
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The color evolution of magnetar-powered kilonova emission in merging neutron star-neutron star systems
Wang, Suo-Ning
Lü, Hou-Jun
Liu, Xiao-Xuan
Rice, Jared
Ren, Jia
Liang, En-Wei
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
The first direct detection of the gravitational wave (GW) event GW170817 and its electromagnetic (EM) counterpart open a new window for studying of multi-messenger astronomy. However, how to identify the remnant of binary neutron star (NS) merger via EM radiation remain an open question. In this paper, we propose a method of color evolution of kilonova emission to identify its progenitors. We assume that the energy of the kilonova is contributed from radioactive decay, magnetar spin-down, and pulsar wind nebula (PWN). The color evolution of kilonova emission associated with short GRB is significant when the spectrum is thermal emission, while it tends towards a constant when the spectrum is non-thermal radiation. On the other hand, if the central engine is a black hole (BH) which is promptly generated by the NS-NS merger or NS-BH merger, then the kilonova is powered only by the radioactive decay. There is no color evolution at the beginning before the peak of kilonova emission, but is significantly and rapidly increasing after the peak. On the contrary, if the central engine is a magnetar or stable NS, the kilonova emission is contributed from radioactive decay, magnetar, and PWN. The color evolution after the peak of kilonova emission is complex behavior which depends on the rotational energy and spin-down time-scale of magnetar, and finally tend to a constant in the late state.
title The color evolution of magnetar-powered kilonova emission in merging neutron star-neutron star systems
topic High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.15235