arXiv · 1307.6805
High-Energy Radiation from Remnants of Neutron Star Binary Mergers
Abstract
We study high-energy emission from the mergers of neutron star binaries as electromagnetic counterparts to gravitational waves aside from short gamma-ray bursts. The mergers entail significant mass ejection, which interacts with the surrounding medium to produce similar but brighter remnants than supernova remnants in a few years. We show that electrons accelerated in the remnants can produce synchrotron radiation in X-rays detectable at $\sim 100$ Mpc by current generation telescopes and inverse Compton emission in gamma rays detectable by the \emph{Fermi} Large Area Telescopes and the Cherenkov Telescope Array under favorable conditions. The remnants may have already appeared in high-energy surveys such as the Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image and the \emph{Fermi} Large Area Telescope as unidentified sources. We also suggest that the merger remnants could be the origin of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays beyond the knee energy, $\sim 10^{15}$ eV, in the cosmic-ray spectrum.
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Hajime Takami, Koutarou Kyutoku, Kunihito Ioka. 2013-07-25. High-Energy Radiation from Remnants of Neutron Star Binary Mergers. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.89.063006
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