Off-axis Synchrotron Light Curves from Full-time-domain Moving-mesh Simulations of Jets from Massive Stars

Abstract

Abstract We present full-time-domain (FTD), moving-mesh, relativistic hydrodynamic simulations of jets launched from the center of a massive progenitor star and compute the resulting synchrotron light curves for observers at a range of viewing angles. We follow jet evolution from ignition inside the stellar center, propagation in the stellar envelope and breakout from the stellar surface, then through the coasting and deceleration phases. The jet compresses into a thin shell, sweeps up the circumstellar medium, and eventually enters the Newtonian phase. The jets naturally develop angular and radial structure due to hydrodynamical interaction with surrounding gas. The calculated synchrotron light curves cover the observed temporal range of prompt to late afterglow phases of long gamma-ray bursts. The on-axis light curves exhibit an early emission pulse originating in shock-heated stellar material, followed by a shallow decay and a later steeper decay. The off-axis light curves rise earlier than previously expected for top-hat jet models—on a timescale of seconds to minutes after jet breakout—and decay afterward. Sometimes the off-axis light curves have later rebrightening components that can be contemporaneous with SNe Ic-bl emission. Our calculations may shed light on the structure of GRB outflows in the afterglow stage. The off-axis light curves from FTD simulations advocate new light-curve templates for the search of off-axis/orphan afterglows.