A Possible kilonova powered by magnetic wind from a newborn black hole

TL;DR

This paper proposes that the bright kilonova observed in GRB 160821B is powered by a magnetic wind from a newborn black hole formed after a neutron star merger, supported by observational evidence and theoretical mechanisms.

Contribution

It introduces a novel scenario where a kilonova is powered by Blandford-Payne wind from a newborn black hole, linked to specific GRB features and observational signatures.

Findings

GRB 160821B shows evidence of a kilonova powered by a black hole wind.

The scenario links X-ray plateaus and kilonova brightness to black hole formation.

Future gravitational wave detections can test this model.

Abstract

The merger of binary neutron stars (NS-NS) as the progenitor of short Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) has been confirmed by the discovery of the association of the gravitational wave (GW) event GW170817 with GRB 170817A. However, the merger product of binary NS remains an open question. An X-ray plateau followed by a steep decay ("internal plateau") has been found in some short GRBs, implying that a supra-massive magnetar operates as the merger remnant and then collapses into a newborn black hole (BH) at the end of the plateau. X-ray bump or second-plateau following the "internal plateau" is considered as the expected signature from the fallback accretion onto this newborn BH through Blandford-Znajek mechanism (BZ). At the same time, a nearly isotropic wind driven by Blandford-Paynemechanism (BP) from the newborn BH's disk can produce a bright kilonova. Therefore, the bright kilonova observation for a short GRB with "internal plateau" (and followed by X-ray bump or second-plateau) provides further evidence for this scenario. In this paper, we find that GRB 160821B is a candidate of such a case, and the kilonova emission of GRB 160821B is possibly powered by the BP wind from a newborn BH. Future GW detection of GRB 160821B-like events may provide further support to this scenario, enable us to investigate the properties of the magnetar and the newborn BH, and constrain the equation of state of neutron stars.