Binary Neutron Star (BNS) Merger: What We Learned from Relativistic Ejecta of GW/GRB 170817A

Gravitational waves from coalescence of a Binary Neutron Star (BNS) and its accompagning short Gamma-Ray Burst GW/GRB~170817A confirmed the presumed origin of these puzzeling transients and opened up the way for relating properties of short GRBs to those of their progenitor stars and their surroundings. Here we review an extensive analysis of the prompt gamma-ray and late afterglows of this event. We show that a fraction of polar ejecta from the merger had been accelerated to ultra-relativistic speeds. This structured jet had an initial Lorentz factor of about $260$ in our direction - $\mathcal{O}(10^\circ)$ from the jet's axis - and was a few orders of magnitude less dense than in typical short GRBs. At the time of arrival to circum-burst material the ultra-relativistic jet had a close to Gaussian profile and a Lorentz factor $\gtrsim 130$ in its core. It had retained in some extent its internal collimation and coherence, but had extended laterally to create mildly relativistic lobes - a {\it cocoon}. External shocks on the far from center inhomogeneous circum-burst material and low density of colliding shells generated slow rising afterglows. The circum-burst material was somehow correlated with the merger and it is possible that it contained recently ejected material from glitching, which had resumed due to the deformation of neutron stars crust by tidal forces in the latest stages of inspiral but well before their merger. By comparing these findings with the results of relativistic MHD simulations and observed gravitational waves we conclude that progenitor neutron stars were old, had close masses and highly reduced magnetic fields. In addition, they probably had oppositely directed spins due to the encounter and gravitational interaction with other stars.
Comment: 30 pages; 11 figures. Invited review for special issue "Multimessenger Probes of the Universe", MDPI-Physics