Electromagnetic Counterparts to Black Hole Mergers Detected by LIGO

TL;DR

This paper explores the possibility that black hole mergers detected by LIGO could have electromagnetic counterparts, specifically gamma-ray bursts, if certain stellar collapse scenarios are involved, opening new avenues for cosmological measurements.

Contribution

It proposes a novel model linking black hole mergers to gamma-ray bursts from collapsing stellar cores, suggesting electromagnetic counterparts are possible and useful for cosmology.

Findings

Potential association between GW150914 and a gamma-ray transient

A model involving collapsing stellar cores producing black hole binaries

Implications for using GW-GRB events as cosmological probes

Abstract

Mergers of stellar-mass black holes (BHs), such as GW150914 observed by LIGO, are not expected to have electromagnetic counterparts. However, the Fermi GBM detector identified of a gamma-ray transient 0.4 s after the gravitational wave (GW) signal GW150914 with consistent sky localization. I show that the two signals might be related if the BH binary detected by LIGO originated from two clumps in a dumbbell configuration that formed when the core of a rapidly rotating massive star collapsed. In that case, the BH binary merger was followed by a gamma-ray burst (GRB) from a jet that originated in the accretion flow around the remnant BH. A future detection of a GRB afterglow could be used to determine the redshift and precise localization of the source. A population of standard GW sirens with GRB redshifts would provide a new approach for precise measurements of cosmological distances as a function of redshift.