Three-dimensional GRMHD simulations of jet formation and propagation in self-gravitating collapsing stars

TL;DR

This study uses 3D GRMHD simulations to compare jet formation in collapsing stars with and without self-gravity, revealing that self-gravity influences jet properties and can cause jet quenching.

Contribution

First detailed simulation of jet formation in self-gravitating collapsars, showing how self-gravity affects jet dynamics and observable features.

Findings

Self-gravity causes temporary jet quenching.

No significant difference in jet launching times with or without self-gravity.

Self-gravity results in narrower jet opening angles.

Abstract

We investigate collapsar models with and without self-gravity under identical initial conditions to directly compare the effects of self-gravity on jet properties, such as opening angle, jet power, terminal Lorentz factor, and its variability. We compute a suite of time-dependent, three-dimensional GRMHD simulations of collapsars in evolving spacetime. We update the Kerr metric components due to the growth of the black hole mass and changes its angular momentum. The self-gravity is considered via perturbative terms. We present for the first time the process of jet formation in self-gravitating collapsars. We find that self-gravity leads to temporary jet quenching, which can explain some features in the gamma-ray burst prompt emission. We find no substantial difference in jet launching times between models with and without self-gravity. We observe that in the absence of self-gravity, the jet can extract more rotational energy from the black hole, while self-gravitating models produce narrower jet opening angles. We show that under certain conditions, self-gravity can interrupt the jet formation process, resulting in a failed burst. Our computations show that self-gravity significantly modifies the process of jet propagation, resulting in notably different jet properties. We show that the timescales, variability, and opening angle of jet depend on whether self-gravity is included or not. We argue that self-gravity can potentially explain certain prompt emission properties due to the jet quenching.