Afterglow Light Curves of Nonrelativistic Ejecta Mass in a Stratified Circumstellar Medium

Abstract

Abstract We present the afterglow light curves produced by the deceleration of a nonrelativistic ejecta mass in a stratified circumstellar medium with a density profile n(r) ∝ r −k with k = 0, 1, 1.5, 2, and 2.5. Once the ejecta mass is launched with equivalent kinetic energy parameterized by E(>β) ∝ β −α (where β is the ejecta velocity) and propagates into the surrounding circumstellar medium, it first moves with constant velocity (the free-coasting phase), and later it decelerates (the Sedov–Taylor expansion). We present the predicted synchrotron and synchrotron self-Compton light curves during the free-coasting phase and the subsequent Sedov–Taylor expansion. In particular cases, we show the corresponding light curves generated by the deceleration of several ejecta masses with different velocities launched during the coalescence of binary compact objects and the core collapse of dying massive stars, which will contribute at distinct timescales, frequencies, and intensities. Finally, using the multiwavelength observations and upper limits collected by a large campaign of orbiting satellites and ground telescopes, we constrain the parameter space of both the kilonova (KN) afterglow in GW170817 and the possibly generated KN afterglow in S190814bv. Further observations on timescales of years post-merger are needed to derive tighter constraints.