Testing the Viewing Angle Hypothesis for Short GRB with LIGO events

TL;DR

This paper proposes using simultaneous gravitational wave and short GRB detections to test the viewing angle hypothesis, which suggests that the observer's angle relative to the jet axis affects the GRB's spectral lag.

Contribution

It introduces a novel multimessenger approach to test the viewing angle hypothesis for short GRBs using LIGO and gamma-ray observations.

Findings

Potential to distinguish viewing angles through multimessenger data

Supports testing the necessity of event horizons in GRB models

Lays groundwork for future multimessenger GRB studies

Abstract

It has been suggested that short gamma ray bursts (GRBs) have shorter or undetectable spectral lags than long GRB because in the former, the observer's line of sight makes a larger angle with the GRB jet axis than for the latter. It is proposed that simultaneous gravitational wave - short GRB events could provide a simple test of this hypothesis. Multimessenger astronomy eventually may test whether event horizons are a necessary ingredient for GRB.