Long-Lasting Black-Hole Jets in Short Gamma-Ray Bursts

TL;DR

This paper proposes a black hole model to explain long-lasting activities in short gamma-ray bursts, linking magnetic field evolution, fallback mass, and observational signatures to the central engine's nature.

Contribution

It introduces a novel black hole-based framework for long-duration emissions in short GRBs, incorporating magnetic field dynamics and fallback mass effects.

Findings

Magnetic field decay from 10^{14} G to 10^{13}-10^{11} G during the burst.

Fallback mass estimated at 10^{-4} to 10^{-2} solar masses.

Implications for gravitational wave signals and neutron star matter equations of state.

Abstract

Whether a short gamma-ray burst (GRB) is caused by a black hole (BH) or a neutron star (NS) after the merger of a NS binary is a crucial problem. We propose a BH model that explains short GRBs with long-lasting activities such as extended emission and plateau emission up to $\sim10000$ s. To extract the BH rotational energy, the topological evolution of the magnetic field should accompany the mass ejection, mass fallback, and magnetic field reconnection. The observations suggest the magnetic field decay from $\sim10^{14}$ G to $\sim10^{13} - 10^{11}$ G at the BH, bounded below by the pre-merger strength and kept constant while the luminosity is constant, and the fallback mass of $\sim10^{-4} - 10^{-2} M_{\odot}$, comparable to the ejecta mass implied by the macronova (or kilonova) in GRB 130603B. The BH model has implications for gravitational waves and the equation of state of NS matter.