arXiv subjects

Sho Fujibayashi

Publications and source records attributed to Sho Fujibayashi.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Gravitational waves from core collapse of rotating very-massive stars: 3D numerical relativity computation

We numerically study the collapse of rotating, very-massive stellar cores with masses of $\approx 200$, $300$, $500$, and $1100M_\odot$ into black holes using both axisymmetric and three-dimensional (3D) numerical relativity. Our results indicate that when the dimensionless spin of the resulting black hole exceeds 0.8, a massive disk consistently forms around it. These massive, compact disks, carrying more than about 10\% of the black hole's mass, are prone to non-axisymmetric deformations that trigger gravitational-wave bursts with frequencies around 10-50 Hz. Such waves could be detected by the Einstein Telescope and Cosmic Explorer, even from sources a few Gpc away. We also summarize the gravitational-wave signals from axisymmetric collapse, which tend to have lower amplitudes and higher frequencies than those caused by non-axisymmetric instabilities.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2026

A first-principles binary neutron star merger model of GW170817, GRB170817A, and AT2017gfo

The multimessenger observation of the binary neutron star merger event GW170817, associated with its electromagnetic counterparts GRB170817A and AT2017gfo, marked a milestone in astrophysics, yet its unified physical explanation remains elusive. We conduct an end-to-end simulation based on a first-principles general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamics neutrino-radiation transfer merger simulation, followed by nucleosynthesis calculations and photon radiative transfer to generate kilonova light curves. We show that the large-scale dynamo simultaneously produces a relativistic jet with an isotropic-equivalent luminosity of $\sim 10^{51}~{\rm erg~s^{-1}}$ and $\approx 0.08M_\odot$ of neutron-rich ejecta, reproducing the GRB170817A afterglow and the AT2017gfo kilonova light curves. Our results establish a unified first-principles framework for interpreting binary neutron star mergers across gravitational wave, gamma-ray burst, and kilonova observations.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2026

Explosions from Rotating Very Massive Star Collapses to Black Holes: Effects of Nuclear Burning

We investigate the collapse of rotating very massive and supermassive stellar cores using numerical relativity simulations including an alpha-chain nuclear reaction network and neutrino cooling. Our main survey focuses on newly constructed models with initial core masses of $2 \times {10}^{3}-5\times 10^4M_\odot$. The collapse is triggered either by pair instability in lower-mass cores or by general-relativistic instability in higher-mass cores. We find that higher-mass cores undergo a nearly homologous collapse, whereas lower-mass cores show a more runaway-like collapse because neutrino cooling becomes more efficient at their higher densities and temperatures. Consequently, the black hole formed in lower-mass models initially contains a smaller fraction of the core mass, and disk formation occurs while a larger amount of matter remains outside the black hole. The lower compactness of pair-unstable cores also allows larger dimensionless angular momentum, favoring the formation of rapidly rotating black holes and massive disks. The disk bounce drives mass ejection with ejecta masses of order $10-10^3M_\odot$ and kinetic energies of order $10^{53}-10^{55}\,\mathrm{erg}$. Significant $^{56}$Ni production in the disk-bounce ejecta occurs only in the lowest-mass models. For selected models, we further follow the viscous evolution of the disk and find that viscosity enhances the ejecta mass and kinetic energy. In models with $\lesssim10^4M_\odot$, the viscosity-driven ejecta can originate from disk matter that has reached nuclear statistical equilibrium and can therefore become rich in $^{56}$Ni. These results suggest that rotating very massive star collapses can produce massive, energetic ejecta and, for sufficiently low core masses, substantial iron-group elements.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2026

Non-LTE Ionization Modeling for Helium and Strontium in Neutron Star Merger Ejecta

The material ejected from a binary neutron star merger produces "kilonova," a radioactively powered emission at ultraviolet, optical, and infrared wavelengths. The early-phase spectra of the kilonova AT2017gfo, following the gravitational wave event GW170817, exhibit a strong absorption feature around $1\,\mathrm{\mu m}$. Helium (He) and strontium (Sr) have been proposed as the candidate elements contributing to this feature. However, due to the lack of consistent modeling including these two elements simultaneously, the exact contributions of each element to this feature remain unclear. In this study, we develop non-local thermodynamic equilibrium ionization models for He and Sr that take into account ionization by high-energy electrons, and estimate the abundances of each element required to reproduce the observed feature. Our modeling indicates that about $1\, \%$ of He or $1\mathrm{-}10\, \%$ of Sr in mass fraction are present in the ejecta moving at $v \sim 0.15 \, c$. This Sr mass fraction nicely agrees with the mass fraction in the solar $r$-process abundance. Based on comparison with nucleosynthesis calculations, our constraints suggest that $r$-process nucleosynthesis in GW170817 occurs at relatively low electron fraction ($Y_{\rm e} \lesssim 0.35$) and low entropy ($s \lesssim 30 \ k_B/\, \mathrm{nucleon}$) conditions. Interestingly, for $Y_{\rm e}$ $\lesssim 0.15$, the observed feature is reproduced by He with a mass fraction expected from $\alpha$ decays of trans-Pb nuclei, which gives an indirect signature for the production of elements beyond the third $r$-process peak.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2025

Lanthanide Impact on the Infra-Red Spectra of Nebular Phase Kilonovae

Nebular phase kilonovae (KNe) have significant infra-red (IR) emission thought to be mostly forbidden emission lines from rapid neutron capture (r-process) species in neutron star merger ejecta. Lanthanide elements in particular have complex, open f-shell atomic structures with many IR transitions. Using non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) radiative transfer simulations, we explore the impact of lanthanides on the IR spectra of KNe in the nebular phase, exploring a parameter space of ejecta mass and lanthanide fraction. We find that lanthanide impact is greater at higher densities, corresponding to earlier epochs and greater ejecta masses. The wavelengths most affected are found to be $\lambda \lesssim 4~\mu$m, with the species Ce\,\textsc{iii} and Nd \textsc{ii} being the most important contributors to spectral formation. We also find significant emission from species proposed in observations, notably Te\,\textsc{iii} at 2.1 $\mu$m, and Se\,\textsc{iii} at 4.5 and 5.7 $\mu$m, while W\,\textsc{iii} is subdominant at 4.5 $\mu$m. The Te\,\textsc{iii} feature at 2.1 $\mu$m is always blended, particularly with Zr\,\textsc{ii}, Ce\,\textsc{iii}, and Nd\,\textsc{ii}. We do not reproduce the smooth blackbody-like continua observed in AT2023vfi. Based on our results, we argue that line opacity alone is likely insufficient to produce optically thick continua in the nebular phase, even in the case of lanthanide/actinide-rich ejecta, as our models are optically thin in the IR at these epochs. Given that lanthanide contributions are dominant below 4 $\mu$m, we suggest that NIR observations best probe these elements, while MIR spectroscopy with \textit{JWST} can reliably probe non-lanthanide emission even in relatively lanthanide-rich cases.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2025

Collapse of rotating very massive stellar cores leading to a black hole and a massive disk as a source of gravitational waves

We derive models of rotating very massive stellar cores with mass $\approx 10^2$--$10^4M_\odot$ which are marginally stable to the pair-unstable collapse, assuming that the core is isentropic and composed primarily of oxygen. It is shown that the cores with mass $\lesssim 10^3M_\odot$ can form a massive disk with the mass more than 10% of the core mass around the formed black hole if the core is rotating with more than 30% of the Keplerian limit. We also indicate that the formation of rapidly spinning massive black holes such as the black holes of GW231123 naturally accompanies the massive disk formation. By using the result of our previous study which showed that the massive disk is unstable to the non-axisymmetric deformation, we predict the amplitude and frequency of gravitational waves and show that the collapse of rotating very massive stellar cores can be a promising source of gravitational waves for Einstein Telescope. The detection of such gravitational waves will provide us with important information about a formation process of intermediate mass black holes.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2025

Signatures of Exploding Supermassive PopIII Stars at High Redshift in JWST, EUCLID and Roman Space Telescope

Recently discovered supermassive black holes with masses of $\sim10^8\,M_\odot$ at redshifts $z\sim9$-$11$ in active galactic nuclei (AGN) pose severe challenges to our understanding of supermassive black hole formation. One proposed channel are rapidly accreting supermassive PopIII stars (SMSs) that form in large primordial gas halos and grow up to $<10^6\,M_\odot$. They eventually collapse due to the general relativistic instability and could lead to supernova-like explosions. This releases massive and energetic ejecta that then interact with the halo medium via an optically thick shock. We develop a semi-analytic model to compute the shock properties, bolometric luminosity, emission spectrum and photometry over time. The initial data is informed by stellar evolution and general relativistic SMS collapse simulations. We find that SMS explosion light curves reach a brightness $\sim10^{45\mathrm{-}47}\,\mathrm{erg/s}$ and last $10$-$200$ years in the source frame - up to $250$-$3000$ years with cosmic time dilation. This makes them quasi-persistent sources which vary indistinguishably to little red dots and AGN within $0.5$-$9\,(1+z)$ yrs. Bright SMS explosions are observable in long-wavelength JWST filters up to $z\leq20$ ($24$-$26$ mag) and pulsating SMSs up to $z\leq15$. EUCLID and the Roman space telescope (RST) can detect SMS explosions at $z<11$-$12$. Their deep fields could constrain the SMS rate down to $10^{-11}$Mpc$^{-3}$yr$^{-1}$, which is much deeper than JWST bounds. Based on cosmological simulations and observed star formation rates, we expect to image up to several hundred SMS explosions with EUCLID and dozens with RST deep fields.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2025

Neutrino pair annihilation driven jets from black-hole torus systems

We perform axisymmetric general relativistic radiation-viscous hydrodynamics simulations of black hole (BH)-torus systems with full Boltzmann Monte-Carlo neutrino transport to investigate the role of neutrino-antineutrino pair annihilation in launching relativistic outflows. Our models span a wide range of BH spins, torus masses, and viscosity parameters. We find that the pair annihilation leads to the formation of relativistic fireballs in most cases, except for those with low black-hole spin and high viscosity. The isotropic-equivalent energies of these outflows reach $\lesssim 10^{51}\,{\rm erg}$ with durations $\lesssim 0.2\,{\rm s}$. While this is insufficient to explain the brightest short gamma-ray bursts (sGRBs), our results suggest that the pair annihilation may account for some low-luminosity sGRBs and GRB precursors. We also provide updated scaling relations for the pair annihilation energy deposition rate as a function of accretion rate, and discuss the sensitivity of outflow properties to numerical resolution and floor density.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2025

Neutrino flavor instabilities in a binary neutron star merger remnant: Roles of a long-lived hypermassive neutron star

Understanding the post-merger evolution of binary neutron star merger (BNSM) requires accurate modeling of neutrino transport and microphysics including neutrino flavor conversions. Many previous studies have suggested that fast flavor instability (FFI) and collisional flavor instability (CFI) pervade inner regions of BNSM remnant, and they could impact on fluid dynamics and r-process nucleosynthesis. In this work, we re-examine prospects of occurrences of FFI and CFI using Boltzmann neutrino transport, assuming a frozen fluid background obtained from a numerical relativity simulation of BNSM. We pay special attention to a case involving a long-lived ($>1\,$ s) hypermassive neutron star (HMNS). Apart from confirming the claim that these flavor instabilities can occur in BNSM remnants, some new insights are revealed. We identify multiple mechanisms responsible for generating electron neutrino lepton number (ELN) angular crossings, corresponding to a key indicator of FFI onset, which differ notably from those in black hole (BH) accretion disk systems. We argue that the appearance of positive chemical potential of electron-type neutrinos plays important roles on generating ELN angular crossings. For CFI, their growth rates are generally lower than FFI, but they can persistently occur in most of the accretion disk up to $\sim 1\,$ s. We also find that neglecting contributions of heavy-leptonic neutrinos results in overestimating growth rate and area of unstable regions of CFI. Our result suggests that FFI (CFI) tends to occur transiently (persistently) and locally (widespread in the disk), and FFI is more sensitive to the central compact object (HMNS or BH) than CFI, though more self-consistent simulations with incorporating effects of flavor conversions are needed to confirm these claims.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2025

Linking Analytic Light Curve Models to Physical Properties of Kilonovae

In binary neutron star mergers, lanthanide-rich dynamical ejecta and lanthanide-poor post-merger ejecta have been often linked to the red and blue kilonova emission, respectively. However, analytic light curve modeling of kilonova often results in the ejecta parameters that are at odds with such expectations. To investigate the physical meaning of the derived parameters, we perform analytic modeling of the kilonova light curves calculated with realistic multi-dimensional radiative transfer based on the numerical relativity simulations. Our fiducial simulations adopt a faster-moving, less massive dynamical ejecta and slower-moving, more massive post-merger ejecta. The results of analytic modeling, however, show that the inferred ''red'' component is more massive and slower, while the ''blue'' component is less massive and faster, as also inferred for GW170817/AT2017gfo. This suggests that the parameters derived from light curve modeling with an analytic model do not represent the true configuration of the kilonova ejecta. We demonstrate that the post-merger ejecta contributes to both blue and red emissions: the emission from the post-merger ejecta is absorbed and reprocessed to red emission by the dynamical ejecta with a higher lanthanide fraction. Our results caution against separately discussing the origins of red and blue components derived from the analytic models. Despite of the challenges in the parameter estimation, we show that the estimate of the total ejecta mass is rather robust within a factor of a few, reflecting the total luminosity output. To derive the reliable total ejecta mass, multi-epoch observations in near-infrared wavelengths near their light curve peaks are important.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2025

Self-consistent scenario for jet and stellar explosion in collapsar: General relativistic magnetohydrodynamics simulation with dynamo

A resistive magnetohydrodynamics simulation with a dynamo term is performed for modeling the collapsar in full general relativity. As an initial condition, a spinning black hole and infalling stellar matter are modeled based on a stellar evolution result, superimposing a weak toroidal magnetic field. After the growth of a massive torus around the black hole, the magnetic field is amplified in it, developing poloidal fields via dynamo. In an early stage of the torus growth, magnetic fluxes that fall to the vicinity of the central black hole are swallowed by the black hole and global poloidal magnetic fields that can be the source of the Blandford-Znajek mechanism are not developed. However, in a later stage in which the ram pressure of the infalling matter becomes weak, the magnetic field amplified by the black hole spin via the winding becomes large enough to expel the infalling matter by the magnetic pressure, and subsequently, a global poloidal magnetic field that penetrates the black hole is established, launching a jet along the spin axis by the Blandford-Znajek mechanism with the luminosity suitable for explaining typical long gamma-ray bursts. Together with the jet launch, the effectively viscous effect in the inner region of the torus and the magnetocentrifugal effect drive the stellar explosion with the explosion energy comparable to typical or powerful supernovae. We also find large amounts of synthesized $^{56}$Ni and Zn associated with the stellar explosion. In the presence of jet launching, $r$-process elements are weakly synthesized. The numerical results of the explosion energy, ejecta mass, and $^{56}$Ni mass are in a good agreement with those for observed broad-lined type Ic supernovae. Our result illustrates a self-consistent scenario for the gamma-ray-burst-associated broad-lined type Ic supernovae.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2024

Tayler-Spruit dynamo in binary neutron star merger remnants

In binary neutron star mergers, the remnant can be stabilized by differential rotation before it collapses into a black hole. Therefore, the angular momentum transport mechanisms are crucial for predicting the lifetime of the hypermassive neutron star. One such mechanism is the Tayler-Spruit dynamo, and recent simulations have shown that it could grow in proto-neutron stars formed during supernova explosions. We aim to investigate whether hypermassive neutron stars with high neutrino viscosity could be unstable to the Tayler-Spruit dynamo and study how magnetic fields would evolve in this context. Using a one-zone model based on the result of a 3D GRMHD simulation, we investigate the time evolution of the magnetic fields generated by the Tayler-Spruit dynamo. In addition, we analyze the dynamics of the 3D GRMHD simulation to determine whether the dynamo is present. Our one-zone model predicts that the Tayler-Spruit dynamo can increase the toroidal magnetic field to $ \ge 10^{17}$ G and the dipole field to amplitudes $\ge 10^{16}$ G. The dynamo's growth timescale depends on the initial large-scale magnetic field right after the merger. In the case of a long-lived hypermassive neutron star, an initial magnetic field of $\ge 10^{12}$ G would be enough for the magnetic field to be amplified in a few seconds. However, we show that the resolution of the current GRMHD simulations is insufficient to resolve the Tayler-Spruit dynamo due to high numerical dissipation at small scales. We find that the Tayler-Spruit dynamo could occur in hypermassive neutron stars and shorten their lifetime, which would have consequences on multi-messenger observations.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2024

Variety of disc wind-driven explosions in massive rotating stars. II. Dependence on the progenitor

We assess the variance of supernova(SN)-like explosions associated with the core collapse of rotating massive stars into a black hole-accretion disc system under changes in the progenitor structure. Our model of the central engine evolves the black hole and the disc through the transfer of matter and angular momentum and includes the contribution of the disc wind. We perform two-dimensional, non-relativistic, hydrodynamics simulations using the open-source hydrodynamic code Athena++, for which we develop a method to calculate self-gravity for axially symmetric density distributions. For a fixed model of the wind injection, we explore the explosion characteristics for progenitors with zero-age main-sequence masses from 9 to 40 $M_\odot$ and different degrees of rotation. Our outcomes reveal a wide range of explosion energies with $E_\mathrm{expl}$ spanning from $\sim 0.3\times10^{51}$~erg to $ > 8\times 10^{51}$~erg and ejecta mass $M_\mathrm{ej}$ from $\sim 0.6$ to $> 10 M_\odot$. Our results are in agreement with some range of the observational data of stripped-envelope and high-energy SNe such as broad-lined type Ic SNe, but we measure a stronger correlation between $E_\mathrm{expl}$ and $M_\mathrm{ej}$. We also provide an estimate of the $^{56}$Ni mass produced in our models which goes from $\sim0.04\;M_\odot$ to $\sim 1.3\;M_\odot$. The $^{56}$Ni mass shows a correlation with the mass and the angular velocity of the progenitor: more massive and faster rotating progenitors tend to produce a higher amount of $^{56}$Ni. Finally, we present a criterion that allows the selection of a potential collapsar progenitor from the observed explosion energy.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2024

Long-term Monte Carlo-based neutrino-radiation hydrodynamics simulations for a black hole-torus system

We present our new general relativistic Monte Carlo (MC)-based neutrino radiation hydrodynamics code designed to solve axisymmetric systems with several improvements. The main improvements are as follows: (i) the development of an extended version of the implicit MC method for multi-species radiation fields; (ii) modeling of neutrino pair process rates based on a new numerically efficient and asymptotically correct fitting function for the kernel function; (iii) the implementation of new numerical limiters on the radiation-matter interaction to ensure a stable and physically correct evolution of the system. We apply our code to a black hole (BH)-torus system with a BH mass of $3\,M_\odot$, BH dimmensionless spin of 0.8, and a torus mass of $0.1\,M_\odot$, which mimics a post-merger remnant of a binary neutron star merger in the case that the massive neutron star collapses to a BH within a short time scale ($\sim10\,{\rm ms}$). We follow the evolution of the BH-torus system up to more than $1\,{\rm s}$ with our MC-based radiation viscous-hydrodynamics code that dynamically takes into account non-thermal pair annihilation. We find that the system evolution and the various key quantities, such as neutrino luminosity, ejecta mass, torus $Y_e$, and pair annihilation luminosity, are broadly in agreement with the results of the previous studies. We also find that the $\nu_e{\bar \nu}_e$ pair annihilation can launch a relativistic outflow for a time scale of $\sim 0.1\,{\rm s}$, and it can be energetic enough to explain some of short-hard gamma-ray bursts and the precursors. Finally, we calculate the indicators of the fast flavor instability directly from the obtained neutrino distribution functions, which indicate that the instability can occur particularly near the equatorial region of the torus.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2024

Powerful explosions from the collapse of rotating supermassive stars

We perform new general relativistic hydrodynamics simulations for collapses of rotating supermassive star cores with an approximate nuclear burning up to carbon and a detailed equation of state. For all the models we investigate, the energy generation by nuclear burning plays only a minor role, leading to the formation of a black hole without a nuclear-powered explosion. For rotating models, however, the stellar explosion associated with shock heating is driven from a torus, which forms after the black hole formation. The explosion energy is up to $10^{-4}$ of the mass energy of the supermassive star cores ($\sim 10^{55}-10^{56}$ erg). We find that, even if we increase the rotational angular momentum of the progenitor, the ejecta mass saturates at $\sim 1$\% of the total mass of the initial stellar core. The average ejecta velocity also saturates at $\approx 20\%$ of the speed of light. As a result, the ejecta kinetic energy is approximately proportional to the initial mass of the supermassive star core for the rapidly rotating case. We also perform viscous hydrodynamics simulations for exploring the evolution of the remnant torus. Although the viscous heating drives an outflow from the torus, we find that its effect is subdominant in terms of the kinetic energy because of the small velocity ($\approx 0.07c$) of the ejecta component.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2024

Threshold mass of the general relativistic instability for supermassive star cores

The dependence of the final fate of supermassive star (SMS) cores on their mass and angular momentum is studied with simple modeling. SMS cores in the hydrogen burning phase encounter the general relativistic instability during the stellar evolution if the mass is larger than $\sim 3 \times 10^4M_\odot$. Spherical SMS cores in the helium burning phase encounter the general relativistic instability prior to the onset of the electron-positron pair instability if the mass is larger than $\sim 1\times 10^4M_\odot$. For rapidly rotating SMS cores, these values for the threshold mass are enhanced by up to a factor of $\sim 5$, and thus, for SMSs with mass smaller than $\sim 10^4M_\odot$ the collapse is triggered by the pair-instability, irrespective of the rotation. After the onset of the general relativistic instability, SMS cores in the hydrogen burning phase with reasonable metallicity are likely to collapse to a black hole irrespective of the degree of rotation, whereas the SMS cores in the helium burning phase could explode via nuclear burning with no black hole formation, as previous works demonstrate.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2024

Constraints of the maximum mass of quark stars based on post-merger evolutions

We semi-analytically investigate the post-merger evolution of the binary quark star merger. The effective-one-body method is employed to estimate the energy and angular momentum dissipation due to gravitational waves in the inspiral phase. Three major mechanisms of energy and angular momentum dissipation are considered in the post-merger phase: mass outflows, neutrinos, and gravitational waves. The proportion of each mechanism could be determined by baryon number, energy and angular momentum conservation laws as well as the equilibrium model for rotating quark stars. Applying this analysis to the GW170817 event suggests two important conclusions: 1) a remnant quark star whose mass is smaller than the maximum mass of a uniformly rotating quark star can collapse before its rotational energy is dissipated via electromagnetic radiation (i.e., $\sim 100\,\mathrm{s}$) as the angular momentum left in the remnant quark star might not be large enough to sustain the additional self-gravity of the supramassive quark star due to the angular momentum dissipation of mass outflows, neutrinos and gravitational waves; 2) considering a general quark star equation of state model, a constraint on the maximum mass of cold and non-rotating quark stars is found as $M_{\mathrm{TOV}}\lesssim2.35^{+0.07}_{-0.17}\,M_{\odot}$, assuming a delayed collapse occurred before a large fraction of the total rotational energy ($\color{blue} \gtrsim 10^{53}\,$erg) of the merger remnant was deposited into the merger environment for the GW170817 event. These constraints could be improved with future merger events, once there are more evidences on its post-merger evolution channel or information on the amount of post-merger gravitational wave and neutrino emissions inferred from the multi-messenger observations.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2024

Three dimensional end-to-end simulation for kilonova emission from a black-hole neutron-star merger

We study long-term evolution of the matter ejected in a black-hole neutron-star (BH-NS) merger employing the results of a long-term numerical-relativity simulation and nucleosynthesis calculation, in which both dynamical and post-merger ejecta formation is consistently followed. In particular, we employ the results for the merger of a $1.35\,M_\odot$ NS and a $5.4\,M_\odot$ BH with the dimensionless spin of 0.75. We confirm the finding in the previous studies that thermal pressure induced by radioactive heating in the ejecta significantly modifies the morphology of the ejecta. We then compute the kilonova (KN) light curves employing the ejecta profile obtained by the long-term evolution. We find that our present BH-NS model results in a KN light curve that is fainter yet more enduring than that observed in AT2017gfo. This is due to the fact that the emission is primarily powered by the lanthanide-rich dynamical ejecta, in which a long photon diffusion time scale is realized by the large mass and high opacity. While the peak brightness of the KN emission in both the optical and near-infrared bands is fainter than or comparable to those of binary NS models, the time-scale maintaining the peak brightness is much longer in the near-infrared band for the BH-NS KN model. Our result indicates that a BH-NS merger with massive ejecta can observationally be identified by the long lasting ($>$two weeks) near-infrared emission.

astro-ph.HE↗