Gamma-ray bursts: the tip of the iceberg?

Abstract

The spin-energy $E_{rot}$ of a Kerr black hole surrounded by a torus may power emissions in multiple windows. The recently determined true GRB-energy of $3-5\times 10^{50}$ erg indicates a minor fraction $E_j/E_{rot}\simeq 0.1$ in baryon poor ouput, here considered as jets along open magnetic flux-tubes from the horizon to infinity. A major fraction $E_{gw}/E_{rot}\simeq 5$ is expected in gravitational radiation from the torus. A LIGO/VIRGO detection of $\alpha =2\pi \int fd{E}_{gw}$ in excess of the neutron star limit ${\alpha }^{\ast }\simeq 0.005$ promises a calorimetric test for Kerr black holes. We expect a sample of LIGO/VIRGO detections to obey the distribution of redshift corrected GRB-durations.

arXiv commentto appear in Proc. Woods Hole Conf. GRBs, November 5-9, 2001