Gravitational-wave memory from a propagating relativistic jet: a probe of the interior of gamma-ray burst progenitors

Abstract

It is believed that the relativistic jets of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) should initially propagate through a heavy envelope of the massive progenitor stars or through a merger ejecta formed from the compact binary mergers. The interaction of a jet with a stellar envelope or a merger ejecta can lead to the deceleration of the head material of the jet and simultaneously the formation of a hot cocoon. However, this jet-envelope/ejecta interaction is actually undetectable with electromagnetic radiation and can only be inferred indirectly by the structure of the breakout jet. Therefore, as a solution to this phenomenon, we suggest that the jet-envelope/ejecta interaction can produce a gravitational-wave (GW) memory of an amplitude of $h\sim 10^{-26}-10^{-23}$, which could be detected with some future GW detectors sensitive in the frequency range from sub-Hertz to several tens of Hertz. This provides a potential direct way to probe the jet propagation and then the interior of the GRB progenitors. Moreover, this method is in principle available even if the jet is finally chocked in the stellar envelope or the merger ejecta.

6 pages, 4 figures, published in ApJ

References in corpus (11)

• GW170817: Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Neutron Star Inspiral
• An Ordinary Short Gamma-Ray Burst with Extraordinary Implications: Fermi-GBM Detection of GRB 170817A
• Swope Supernova Survey 2017a (SSS17a), the Optical Counterpart to a Gravitational Wave Source
• The X-ray counterpart to the gravitational wave event GW 170817
• A Radio Counterpart to a Neutron Star Merger
• Merger and Mass Ejection of Neutron-Star Binaries
• Jet collimation in the ejecta of double neutron star merger: new canonical picture of short gamma-ray bursts
• Jet Propagation in Neutron Star Mergers and GW170817
• High-energy neutrinos from reverse shocks in choked and successful relativistic jets
• Propagation of a Short GRB Jet in the Ejecta: Jet Launching Delay Time, Jet Structure, and GW170817/GRB 170817A
• Afterglows and Kilonovae Associated with Nearby Low-Luminosity Short-Duration Gamma-Ray Bursts: Application to GW170817/GRB170817A

Cited by in corpus (9)

• Neutron Star Mergers in AGN Accretion Disks: Cocoon and Ejecta Shock Breakouts
• High Energy Neutrinos from Choked Gamma-Ray Bursts in AGN Accretion Disks
• The jet structure and the intrinsic luminosity function of short gamma-ray bursts
• Gravitational wave memory of compact binary coalescence in the presence of matter effects
• Jetted and Turbulent Stellar Deaths: New LVK-Detectable Gravitational Wave Sources
• Propagation of GRB Relativistic Jets in AGN Disks and Its Implication for GRB Detection
• Gravitational Waves from the Propagation of Long Gamma-Ray Burst jets
• Low-frequency gravitational wave memory from gamma-ray burst afterglows with energy injection
• Gravitational Wave Memory from Accelerating Relativistic Jets in Multiple Thick Shell Scenarios