Signature of a Newborn Black Hole from the Collapse of a Supra-massive Millisecond Magnetar

Abstract

Abstract An X-ray plateau followed by a steep decay (“internal plateau”) has been observed in both long and short gamma-ray burst (GRBs), implying that a millisecond magnetar operates in some GRBs. The sharp decay at the end of the plateau, marking the abrupt cessation of the magnetar’s central engine, has been considered the collapse of a supra-massive magnetar into a black hole (BH) when it spins down. If this “internal plateau” is indeed evidence of a magnetar central engine, the natural expectation in some candidates would be a signature from the newborn BH. In this work, we find that GRB 070110 is a particular case which shows a small X-ray bump following its “internal plateau.” We interpret the plateau as a spin-down supra-massive magnetar and the X-ray bump as fallback BH accretion. This indicates that a newborn BH is likely active in some GRBs. Therefore, GRB 070110-like events may provide further support to the magnetar central engine model and enable us to investigate the properties of the magnetar as well as the newborn BH.