Abstract
Abstract We analytically study the properties of the electromagnetic field in the vacuum around close binary compact stars containing at least one neutron star. We show that the orbital motion of the neutron star induces high multipole modes of the electromagnetic field just before the merger. These modes are superimposed to form a spiral arm configuration, and its edge is found to be a likely site for magnetic reconnection. These modes also enhance the total Poynting flux from neutron star binaries by a factor of 2–4. We also indicate that the electric field induced by the orbital motion leads to a magnetosphere around binaries and estimate its plasma density, which has a different parameter dependence than the Goldreich–Julian density. With these properties, we discuss possible electromagnetic counterparts to gravitational wave events, and identify radio precursors, such as fast radio bursts, as the most promising observational targets.
Highlights
In August 2017, gravitational waves from a binary neutron star (BNS) merger, GW170817, and its electromagnetic counterparts, GRB170817A & AT2017 gfo, were observed by aLIGO/VIRGO and many telescopes [1,2,3]
Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM), whose trigger sensitivity is ∼ 0.7 cm−2s−1 at 50–300 keV [77], is able to observe the X-ray precursor if the strength of the magnetic field B is stronger than ∼ 1015 G and the efficiency ǫX is ∼ 1 or the black hole (BH) in a black hole - neutron star (BH-NS) binary is so rapidly spinning that the orbital radius with R ∼ MBH is possible
We analytically solve the electromagnetic field around binary compact stars containing at least one NS and study the properties of the electromagnetic field
Summary
In August 2017, gravitational waves from a binary neutron star (BNS) merger, GW170817, and its electromagnetic counterparts, GRB170817A & AT2017 gfo, were observed by aLIGO/VIRGO and many telescopes [1,2,3]. This event had a lot of implications on astrophysics and on gravitational physics; for example, the origin of short gamma-ray bursts [4,5,6], the origin of r-process elements [7], the estimation of Hubble constant [8, 9], and the speed of gravitational waves [10, 11].
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