The role of jet-cocoon mixing, magnetization and shock breakout in neutrino and cosmic-ray emission from short GRBs

TL;DR

This study uses advanced simulations to explore how jet-cocoon interactions, magnetization, and shock breakout in short gamma-ray bursts influence neutrino and cosmic-ray emissions, revealing that current detectors cannot observe these neutrinos but that shock breakout could produce detectable signals.

Contribution

It provides the first self-consistent estimates of neutrino and cosmic-ray signals from short GRBs in binary neutron star mergers, considering jet-magnetization and shock breakout effects.

Findings

Short GRBs do not produce detectable neutrinos with current detectors.

Shock breakout can produce ~10 PeV neutrinos at ~20° viewing angles.

BNS merger blast waves may account for 5-10% of Galactic CR luminosity.

Abstract

We perform GRMHD and RMHD simulations of weakly and highly magnetized gamma-ray burst (GRB) jets propagating in binary neutron star (BNS) merger ejecta. Using the simulations, we first find that mixing between the jet and cocoon, which is present in all types of jets, inhibits the formation of subphotospheric collisionless shocks. However, we show that a mild magnetization may lead to the formation of collisionless subshocks which allow efficient proton acceleration. We consider shear acceleration and diffusive shock acceleration at collimation shocks, internal shocks, shock breakout, and external shocks, to provide the first self-consistent estimate for neutrino and cosmic-ray (CR) signals from GRBs in BNS mergers. We find that short GRBs do not produce detectable neutrino signals with current-day facilities. Shock breakout yields $ \sim 10 $ PeV neutrinos at viewing angles $\sim20^\circ $, independent of the jet magnetization. However, a neutrino signal from shock breakout is well below detection limits of current detectors. Such a signal would allow a coincident neutrino-$\gamma-$ray detection, providing a testable prediction for shock breakout as a neutrino production site. Using the numerical modeling that fits GW170817 afterglow emission, we find that blast waves in BNS mergers can account for 5%-10% of the Galactic CR luminosity in the PeV-EeV energy range. Based on these estimates, the observed level of CR anisotropy places a constraint on the distance of the latest Galactic binary neutron star merger to $\lesssim3$ kiloparsecs.