General-relativistic neutrino-radiation magnetohydrodynamics simulation of seconds-long black hole-neutron star mergers: Dependence on initial magnetic field strength, configuration, and neutron-star equation of state

TL;DR

This study conducts detailed general-relativistic neutrino-radiation magnetohydrodynamics simulations of black hole-neutron star mergers, revealing universal post-merger processes, magnetic field amplification, and effects of initial magnetic configurations on the evolution.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the magnetic and dynamical evolution of black hole-neutron star mergers, including the impact of initial magnetic field configurations and symmetry conditions.

Findings

Universal post-merger evolution processes identified.

Magnetic field amplification mechanisms confirmed.

Magnetosphere polarity reversal discovered.

Abstract

As a follow-up study of our previous work, numerical-relativity simulations for seconds-long black hole-neutron star mergers are performed for a variety of setups. Irrespective of the initial and symmetry conditions, we find qualitatively universal evolution processes: The dynamical mass ejection takes place together with a massive accretion disk formation after the neutron star is tidally disrupted; Subsequently, the magnetic field in the accretion disk is amplified by the magnetic winding, Kelvin-Helmholtz instability, and magnetorotational instability, which establish a turbulent state inducing the dynamo and angular momentum transport; The post-merger mass ejection by the effective viscous processes stemming from the magnetohydrodynamics turbulence sets in at $\sim300$-$500$ ms after the merger and continues for several hundred ms; A magnetosphere near the black-hole spin axis is developed and the collimated strong Poynting flux is generated with its lifetime of $\sim0.5$-$2$ s. We have newly found that the model of no equatorial-plane symmetry shows the reverse of the magnetic-field polarity in the magnetosphere, which is caused by the dynamo associated with the magnetorotational instability in the accretion disk. The model with initially toroidal fields shows the tilt of the disk and magnetosphere in the late post-merger stage because of the anisotropic post-merger mass ejection. These effects could terminate the strong Poynting-luminosity stage within the timescale of $\sim0.5$-$2$ s.