Electromagnetic Counterparts to Black Hole Mergers Detected by LIGO (original) (raw)
ADS
Abstract
Mergers of stellar-mass black holes (BHs), such as GW150914 observed by Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO), are not expected to have electromagnetic counterparts. However, the Fermi GBM detector identified a γ-ray transient 0.4 s after the gravitational wave (GW) signal GW150914 with consistent sky localization. I show that the two signals might be related if the BH binary detected by LIGO originated from two clumps in a dumbbell configuration that formed when the core of a rapidly rotating massive star collapsed. In that case, the BH binary merger was followed by a γ-ray burst (GRB) from a jet that originated in the accretion flow around the remnant BH. A future detection of a GRB afterglow could be used to determine the redshift and precise localization of the source. A population of standard GW sirens with GRB redshifts would provide a new approach for precise measurements of cosmological distances as a function of redshift.
Publication:
The Astrophysical Journal
Pub Date:
March 2016
DOI:
arXiv:
Bibcode:
Keywords:
- gamma-ray burst: general;
- gravitational waves;
- Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena;
- Astrophysics - Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics;
- Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics;
- General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology;
- High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
E-Print:
4 pages, accepted for publication in ApJ Letters