On September 14, 2015 at 09:50:45 UTC the two detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory simultaneously observed a transient gravitational-wave signal. The signal sweeps upwards in frequency from 35 to 250 Hz with a peak gravitational-wave strain of 1.0×10(-21). It matches the waveform predicted by general relativity for the inspiral and merger of a pair of black holes and the ringdown of the resulting single black hole. The signal was observed with a matched-filter signal-to-noise ratio of 24 and a false alarm rate estimated to be less than 1 event per 203,000 years, equivalent to a significance greater than 5.1σ. The source lies at a luminosity distance of 410(-180)(+160)  Mpc corresponding to a redshift z=0.09(-0.04)(+0.03). In the source frame, the initial black hole masses are 36(-4)(+5)M⊙ and 29(-4)(+4)M⊙, and the final black hole mass is 62(-4)(+4)M⊙, with 3.0(-0.5)(+0.5)M⊙c(2) radiated in gravitational waves. All uncertainties define 90% credible intervals. These observations demonstrate the existence of binary stellar-mass black hole systems. This is the first direct detection of gravitational waves and the first observation of a binary black hole merger.

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The Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger

The Swift mission, scheduled for launch in 2004, is a multiwavelength observatory for gamma-ray burst (GRB) astronomy. It is a first-of-its-kind autonomous rapid-slewing satellite for transient astronomy and pioneers the way for future rapid-reaction and multiwavelength missions. It will be far more powerful than any previous GRB mission, observing more than 100 bursts yr � 1 and performing detailed X-ray and UV/optical afterglow observations spanning timescales from 1 minute to several days after the burst. The objectives are to (1) determine the origin of GRBs, (2) classify GRBs and search for new types, (3) study the interaction of the ultrarelativistic outflows of GRBs with their surrounding medium, and (4) use GRBs to study the early universe out to z >10. The mission is being developed by a NASA-led international collaboration. It will carry three instruments: a newgeneration wide-field gamma-ray (15‐150 keV) detector that will detect bursts, calculate 1 0 ‐4 0 positions, and trigger autonomous spacecraft slews; a narrow-field X-ray telescope that will give 5 00 positions and perform spectroscopy in the 0.2‐10 keV band; and a narrow-field UV/optical telescope that will operate in the 170‐ 600 nm band and provide 0B3 positions and optical finding charts. Redshift determinations will be made for most bursts. In addition to the primary GRB science, the mission will perform a hard X-ray survey to a sensitivity of � 1m crab (� 2;10 � 11 ergs cm � 2 s � 1 in the 15‐150 keV band), more than an order of magnitude better than HEAO 1 A-4. A flexible data and operations system will allow rapid follow-up observations of all types of

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The Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Mission

On 2017 August 17, the gravitational-wave event GW170817 was observed by the Advanced LIGO and Virgo detectors, and the gamma-ray burst (GRB) GRB 170817A was observed independently by the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor, and the Anti-Coincidence Shield for the Spectrometer for the International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory. The probability of the near-simultaneous temporal and spatial observation of GRB 170817A and GW170817 occurring by chance is $5.0\times {10}^{-8}$. We therefore confirm binary neutron star mergers as a progenitor of short GRBs. The association of GW170817 and GRB 170817A provides new insight into fundamental physics and the origin of short GRBs. We use the observed time delay of $(+1.74\pm 0.05)\,{\rm{s}}$ between GRB 170817A and GW170817 to: (i) constrain the difference between the speed of gravity and the speed of light to be between $-3\times {10}^{-15}$ and $+7\times {10}^{-16}$ times the speed of light, (ii) place new bounds on the violation of Lorentz invariance, (iii) present a new test of the equivalence principle by constraining the Shapiro delay between gravitational and electromagnetic radiation. We also use the time delay to constrain the size and bulk Lorentz factor of the region emitting the gamma-rays. GRB 170817A is the closest short GRB with a known distance, but is between 2 and 6 orders of magnitude less energetic than other bursts with measured redshift. A new generation of gamma-ray detectors, and subthreshold searches in existing detectors, will be essential to detect similar short bursts at greater distances. Finally, we predict a joint detection rate for the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor and the Advanced LIGO and Virgo detectors of 0.1–1.4 per year during the 2018–2019 observing run and 0.3–1.7 per year at design sensitivity.

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Gravitational Waves and Gamma-Rays from a Binary Neutron Star Merger: GW170817 and GRB 170817A

Using a two-dimensional hydrodynamics code (PROMETHEUS), we explore the continued evolution of rotating helium stars, Mα 10 M☉, in which iron-core collapse does not produce a successful outgoing shock but instead forms a black hole of 2-3 M☉. The model explored in greatest detail is the 14 M☉ helium core of a 35 M☉ main-sequence star. The outcome is sensitive to the angular momentum. For j16 ≡ j/(1016 cm2 s-1) 3, material falls into the black hole almost uninhibited. No outflows are expected. For j16 20, the infalling matter is halted by centrifugal force outside 1000 km where neutrino losses are negligible. The equatorial accretion rate is very low, and explosive oxygen burning may power a weak equatorial explosion. For 3 j16 20, however, a reasonable value for such stars, a compact disk forms at a radius at which the gravitational binding energy can be efficiently radiated as neutrinos or converted to beamed outflow by magnetohydrodynamical (MHD) processes. These are the best candidates for producing gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Here we study the formation of such a disk, the associated flow patterns, and the accretion rate for disk viscosity parameter α ≈ 0.001 and 0.1. Infall along the rotational axis is initially uninhibited, and an evacuated channel opens during the first few seconds. Meanwhile the black hole is spun up by the accretion (to a ≈ 0.9), and energy is dissipated in the disk by MHD processes and radiated by neutrinos. For the α = 0.1 model, appreciable energetic outflows develop between polar angles of 30° and 45°. These outflows, powered by viscous dissipation in the disk, have an energy of up to a few times 1051 ergs and a mass ~1 M☉ and are rich in 56Ni. They constitute a supernova-like explosion by themselves. Meanwhile accretion through the disk is maintained for approximately 10-20 s but is time variable (±30%) because of hydrodynamical instabilities at the outer edge in a region where nuclei are experiencing photodisintegration. Because the efficiency of neutrino energy deposition is sensitive to the accretion rate, this instability leads to highly variable energy deposition in the polar regions. Some of this variability, which has significant power at 50 ms and overtones, may persist in the time structure of the burst. During the time followed, the average accretion rate for the standard α = 0.1 and j16 = 10 model is 0.07 M☉ s-1. The total energy deposited along the rotational axes by neutrino annihilation is (1-14) × 1051 ergs, depending upon the evolution of the Kerr parameter and uncertain neutrino efficiencies. Simulated deposition of energy in the polar regions, at a constant rate of 5 × 1050 ergs s-1 per pole, results in strong relativistic outflow jets beamed to about 1% of the sky. These jets may be additionally modulated by instabilities in the sides of the "nozzle" through which they flow. The jets blow aside the accreting material, remain highly focused, and are capable of penetrating the star in ~10 s. After the jet breaks through the surface of the star, highly relativistic flow can emerge. Because of the sensitivity of the mass ejection and jets to accretion rate, angular momentum, and disk viscosity, and the variation of observational consequences with viewing angle, a large range of outcomes is possible, ranging from bright GRBs like GRB 971214 to faint GRB-supernovae like SN 1998bw. X-ray precursors are also possible as the jet first breaks out of the star. While only a small fraction of supernovae make GRBs, we predict that collapsars will always make supernovae similar to SN 1998bw. However, hard, energetic GRBs shorter than a few seconds will be difficult to produce in this model and may require merging neutron stars and black holes for their explanation.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1086/307790/pdf

Collapsars: Gamma-ray bursts and explosions in 'failed supernovae'

Monthly Notices is one of the three largest general primary astronomical research publications. It is an international journal, published by the Royal Astronomical Society. This article 1 describes its publication policy and practice.

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Neutrino-induced reactions on $^{56}\mathrm{Fe}$ and $^{56}\mathrm{Ni}$ are investigated based on a new shell-model Hamiltonian for $\mathit{pf}$ shell. The calculated charged current reaction cross section on $^{56}\mathrm{Fe}$ induced by decay-at-rest (DAR) neutrinos is shown to be consistent with the observation. The Gamow-Teller strength in $^{56}\mathrm{Ni}$ is found to be more spread compared to previous calculations and result in a considerably large branching ratio for the proton knock-out channel. As a consequence of this, the production yields of heavy elements such as $^{55}\mathrm{Mn}$ in population III stars are shown to be enhanced for the new Hamiltonian.

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Neutrino-induced reactions on Fe-56 and Ni-56, and production of Mn-55 in population III stars

The Evolution toward Electron Capture Supernovae: The Flame Propagation and the Pre-bounce Electron-Neutrino Radiation

We introduce our newly developed two different, three dimensional magneto hydrodynamical codes in detail. One of our codes is written in the Newtonian limit (NMHD) and the other is in the fully general relativistic code (GRMHD). Both codes employ adaptive mesh refinement and, in GRMHD, the metric is evolved with the "Baumgarte-Shapiro-Shibata-Nakamura" formalism known as the most stable method at present. We did several test problems and as for the first practical test, we calculated gravitational collapse of a $15M_\odot$ star. Main features found from our calculations are; (1) High velocity bipolar outflow is driven from the proto-neutronstar and moves through along the rotational axis in strongly magnetized models; (2) A one-armed spiral structure appears which is originated from the low-$|T/W|$ instability; (3) By comparing GRMHD and NMHD models, the maximum density increases about $\sim30%$ in GRMHD models due to the stronger gravitational effect. These features agree very well with previous studies and our codes are thus reliable to numerical simulation of gravitational collapse of massive stars.

Three Dimensional Magneto Hydrodynamical Simulations of Gravitational Collapse of a 15Msun Star

We investigate the explosive nucleosynthesis during two dimensional neutrino-driven explosion of ultra-stripped Type Ic supernovae evolved from 1.45 and 1.5 M$_\odot$ CO stars. These supernovae explode with the explosion energy of $\sim 10^{50}$ erg and release $\sim 0.1$ M$_\odot$ ejecta. The light trans-iron elements Ga-Zr are produced in the neutrino-irradiated ejecta. The abundance distribution of these elements has a large uncertainty because of the uncertainty of the electron fraction of the neutrino-irradiated ejecta. The yield of the elements will be less than 0.01 M$_\odot$. Ultra-stripped supernova and core-collapse supernova evolved from a light CO core can be main sources of the light trans-iron elements. They could also produce neutron-rich nuclei $^{48}$Ca. The ultra-stripped supernovae eject $^{56}$Ni of $\sim$ 0.006 - 0.01 M$_\odot$. If most of neutrino-irradiated ejecta is proton-rich, $^{56}$Ni will be produced more abundantly. The light curves of these supernovae indicate sub-luminous fast decaying explosion with the peak magnitude of about $-15$ - $-16$. Future observations of ultra-stripped supernovae could give a constraint to the event rate of a class of neutron star mergers.

Explosive nucleosynthesis of ultra-stripped Type Ic supernovae: application to light trans-iron elements

Recent theory predicts that a first star is born with a massive initial mass of $\gtrsim$ 100 $M_\odot$. Pair instability supernova (PISN) is a common fate for such a massive star. Our final goal is to prove the existence of PISN and thus the high mass nature of the initial mass function in the early universe by conducting {\it abundance profiling}, in which properties of a hypothetical first star is constrained by metal-poor star abundances. In order to determine reliable and useful abundances, we investigate the PISN nucleosynthesis taking both rotating and non-rotating progenitors for the first time. We show that the initial and CO core mass ranges for PISNe depend on the envelope structures: non-magnetic rotating models developing inflated envelopes have a lower-shifted CO mass range of $\sim$ 70--125 $M_\odot$, while non-rotating and magnetic rotating models with deflated envelopes have a range of $\sim$ 80--135 $M_\odot$. However, we find no significant difference in explosive yields from rotating and non-rotating progenitors, except for large nitrogen production in non-magnetic rotating models. Furthermore, we conduct the first systematic comparison between theoretical yields and a large sample of metal-poor star abundances. We find that the predicted low [Na/Mg] $\sim$ $-1.5$ and high [Ca/Mg] $\sim$ $0.5$--$1.3$ abundance ratios are the most important to discriminate PISN signatures from normal metal-poor star abundances, and confirm that no currently observed metal-poor star matches with the PISN abundance. Extensive discussion on the non-detection is finally made.

Hideyuki Umeda

Papers

Neutrino-induced reactions on Fe-56 and Ni-56, and production of Mn-55 in population III stars

The Evolution toward Electron Capture Supernovae: The Flame Propagation and the Pre-bounce Electron-Neutrino Radiation

Three Dimensional Magneto Hydrodynamical Simulations of Gravitational Collapse of a 15Msun Star

Explosive nucleosynthesis of ultra-stripped Type Ic supernovae: application to light trans-iron elements

Stellar Yields of Rotating First Stars. II. Pair Instability Supernovae and Comparison with Observations