Bayesian analysis on the X-ray spectra of the binary neutron star merger GW170817

Abstract

For the first time, we present a Bayesian time-resolved spectral study of the X-ray afterglow datasets of GW170817/GRB17017A observed by the Chandra X-ray Observatory. These include all 12 public datasets, from the earliest observation taken at t∼9 d to the newest observation at ∼359 d post-merger. While our results are consistent with the other works using Cash statistic within uncertainty, the Bayesian analysis we performed in this work have yielded Gaussian-like parameter distributions. We also obtained the parameter uncertainties directly from their posterior probability distributions. We are able to confirm that the power-law photon index has remained constant of Γ∼1.6 throughout the entire year-long observing period, except for the first dataset observed at t=8.9 d when Γ=1.04±0.44 is marginally harder. We also found that the unabsorbed X-ray flux peaked at t∼155 d, temporally consistent with the X-ray flare model suggested recently by Piro et al. (2019). The X-ray flux has been fading since ∼160 days after the merger and has returned to the level as first discovered after one year. Our result shows that the X-ray spectrum of GW170817/GRB170817A is well-described by a simple power-law originated from non-thermal slow-cooling synchrotron radiation.