Non-thermal emission from mildly relativistic dynamical ejecta of neutron star mergers: spectrum and sky image

Abstract

Abstract Binary neutron star mergers are expected to produce fast dynamical ejecta, with mildly relativistic velocities extending to β = v/c > 0.6. In a preceding paper, we derived an analytic description of the time-dependent radio to X-ray synchrotron flux produced by collisionless shocks driven by such fast ejecta into the interstellar medium, for spherical ejecta with broken power-law mass (or energy) distributions, M( > γβ)∝(γβ)−s with s = sKN at γβ < γ0β0 and s = sft at γβ > γ0β0 (where γ is the Lorentz factor). Here, we extend our analysis and provide analytic expressions for the self-absorption frequency, the cooling frequency, and the observed angular size of the emitting region (which appears as a ring in the sky). For parameter values characteristic of merger calculation results - a ”shallow” mass distribution, 1 < sKN < 3, for the bulk of the ejecta (at γβ ≈ 0.2), and a steep, sft > 5, ”fast tail” mass distribution – the analytic results reproduce well (to tens of percent accuracy) the results of detailed numeric calculations, a significant improvement over earlier order-of-magnitude estimates (based on extrapolations of results valid for γβ ≪ 1).