2024/12/16 by Conor M. B. Omand, Nikhil Sarin, Gavin P. Lamb · 1 voice · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #astro-ph.HE
paper · pdf · doi:10.1093/mnras/staf565
arxiv published 2024/12/16 · openalex publication_date 2025/04/07 · arxiv updated 2025/04/14 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
ABSTRACT Binary neutron star mergers and collapsing massive stars can both create millisecond magnetars. Such magnetars are candidate engines to power gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). The non-thermal light curve of the resulting transients can exhibit multiple components, including the GRB afterglow, pulsar wind nebula (PWN), and ejecta afterglow. We derive the time-scales for the peak of each component and show that the PWN is detectable at radio frequencies, dominating the emission for ∼6 yr for supernova/long GRBs (SN/LGRBs) and ∼ 100 d for kilonova/short GRBs (KN/SGRBs) at 1 GHz, and ∼1 yr for SN/LGRBs and ∼ 15 d for KN/SGRBs at 100 GHz. The PWN emission has an exponential, frequency-dependent rise to peak that cannot be replicated by an ejecta afterglow. We show that PWNe in SN/LGRBs can be detected out to z ∼ 0.06 with current instruments and z ∼ 0.3 with next-generation instruments and PWNe in KN/SGRBs can be detected out to z ∼ 0.3 with current instruments and z ∼ 1.5 with next-generation instruments. We find that the optimal strategy for detecting PWNe in these systems is a multiband, high cadence radio follow-up of nearby KN/SGRBs with an X-ray plateau or extended prompt emission from 10 to 100 d post-burst.