Following the GRB 170817A prompt emission lasting a fraction of a second, 108 s of data in the X-rays, optical, and radio wavelengths have been acquired. We here present a model that fits the spectra, flux, and time variability of all these emissions, based on the thermal and synchrotron cooling of the expanding matter ejected in a binary white dwarf merger. The 10−3M⊙ of ejecta, expanding at velocities of 109 cm s−1, are powered by the newborn massive, fast rotating, magnetized white dwarf with a mass of 1.3M⊙, a rotation period of ≳12 s, and a dipole magnetic field ∼1010 G, born in the merger of a 1.0+0.8M⊙ white dwarf binary. Therefore, the long-lasting mystery of the GRB 170817A nature is solved by the merger of a white dwarf binary that also explains the prompt emission energetics.
@article{arxiv.2202.00314,
title = {The white dwarf binary merger model of GRB 170817A},
author = {J. A. Rueda and R. Ruffini and Liang Li and R. Moradi and N. Sahakyan and Y. Wang},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2202.00314},
year = {2022}
}
Comments
To appear in the IJMPD. Plenary talk at the 16th Marcel Grossmann Meeting on Relativistic Astrophysics held on July 5-10, 2021