# BLACK HOLE – NEUTRON STAR MERGERS AS CENTRAL ENGINES OF GAMMA-RAY BURSTS

## 1. INTRODUCTION

BH/NS and NS/NS mergers are discussed as promising candidates for the origin of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) (e.g., Blinnikov et al. 1984; Eichler et al. 1989; Paczyński 1991; Narayan, Piran, & Shemi 1992; Mészáros 1999; Fryer, Woosley, & Hartmann 1999; Bethe & Brown 1998, 1999), at least for the subclass of less complex and less energetic short and hard bursts (Mao, Narayan, & Piran 1994) with durations of fractions of a second (Popham, Woosley, & Fryer 1999; Ruffert & Janka 1999). Optical counterparts and afterglows of this subclass have not yet been observed. Due to the presence of a region of very low baryon density above the poles of the black hole, BH/NS mergers are considered as more favorable sources than NS/NS mergers (e.g., Portegies Zwart 1998; Brown et al. 1999).

Previous Newtonian SPH simulations of BH/NS mergers using a polytropic equation of state indicate that the neutron star may slowly lose gas in many mass transfer cycles (Kluźniak & Lee 1998; Lee & Kluźniak 1998,1999). Whether dynamical instability sets in at a minimum separation (Rasio & Shapiro 1994; Lai, Rasio, & Shapiro 1994) or whether stable Roche lobe overflow takes place, however, can depend on the neutron star to black hole mass ratio (Bildsten & Cutler 1992) and the properties of the nuclear equation of state, expressed by the adiabatic index (Uryū & Eriguchi 1999).

In this Letter we report about the first Newtonian BH/NS merger simulations (Eberl 1998) which were done with a realistic nuclear equation of state (Lattimer & Swesty 1991) and which therefore yield information about the thermodynamic evolution and the neutrino emission. They allow one to compare the strength of the gravitational wave (GW) emission relative to NS/NS mergers and to investigate neutrino-antineutrino ($`\nu \overline{\nu }`$) annihilation as potential source of energy for GRBs.

## 2. NUMERICAL METHODS

The three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations were performed with a Eulerian PPM code using four levels of nested cartesian grids which ensure a good resolution near the center of mass and a large computational volume simultaneously. Each grid had 64<sup>3</sup> zones, the size of the smallest zone was 0.64 or 0.78 km in case of NS/NS and 1.25 or 1.5 km for BH/NS mergers. The zone sizes of the next coarser grid levels were doubled to cover a volume of 328 or 400 km side length for NS/NS and 640 or 768 km for BH/NS simulations. GW emission and its backreaction on the hydrodynamics were taken into account by the method of Blanchet, Damour, & Schäfer (1990) (see Ruffert, Janka, & Schäfer 1996). The neutrino emission and corresponding energy and lepton number changes of the matter were calculated with an elaborate neutrino leakage scheme (Ruffert, Janka, & Schäfer 1996), and $`\nu \overline{\nu }`$ annihilation around the merger was evaluated in a post-processing step (Ruffert et al. 1997).

## 3. SIMULATIONS

Table 1 gives a list of computed NS/NS and BH/NS merger models. Besides the baryonic mass of the neutron star and the mass of the black hole, the spins of the neutron stars were varied. “Solid” means synchronously rotating stars, “none” irrotational cases and “anti” counter-rotation, i.e., spin vectors opposite to the direction of the orbital angular momentum. The cool neutron stars have a radius of about 15 km (Ruffert, Janka, & Schäfer 1996) and the runs were started with a center-to-center distance of 42–46 km for NS/NS and with 47 km in case of BH/NS for $`M_{\mathrm{BH}}=2.5M_{}`$, 57 km for $`M_{\mathrm{BH}}=5M_{}`$ and 72 km for $`M_{\mathrm{BH}}=10M_{}`$. The simulations were stopped at a time $`t_{\mathrm{sim}}`$ between 10 ms and $`20`$ms. The black hole was treated as a point mass at the center of a sphere with radius $`R_\mathrm{s}=2GM_{\mathrm{BH}}/c^2`$ which gas could enter unhindered. Its mass and momentum were updated along with the accretion of matter. Model TN10, which is added for comparison, is a continuation of the NS/NS merger model B64 where at time $`t_{\mathrm{sim}}=10`$ms the formation of a black hole was assumed and the accretion was followed for another 5 ms until a steady state was reached (Ruffert & Janka 1999).

## 4. RESULTS

### 4.1. Evolution of BH/NS mergers

Due to the emission of GWs the orbital separation decreases. During its first approach, the neutron star transfers matter to the black hole at huge rates of several 100 up to $`1000M_{}`$/s. Within 2–3 ms it loses 50–75% of its initial mass. In case of the 2.5$`M_{}`$ black hole the evolution is catastrophic and the neutron star is immediately disrupted (Lattimer & Schramm 1974). A mass of 0.2–0.3$`M_{}`$ remains in a thick disk around the black hole ($`M_\mathrm{d}`$ in Table 2). In contrast, the orbital distance increases again for $`M_{\mathrm{BH}}=5M_{}`$ and $`M_{\mathrm{BH}}=10M_{}`$ and a significantly less massive neutron star begins a second approach. Again, the black hole swallows gas at rates of more than $`100M_{}`$/s. Even a third cycle is possible (Fig. 1). Finally, at a distance $`d_{\mathrm{ns}}`$ and time $`t_{\mathrm{ns}}`$ the neutron star with a mass of $`M_{\mathrm{ns}}^{\mathrm{min}}`$ is destroyed and most of its mass ends up in an accretion disk (Table 2). (In case of NS/NS mergers $`t_{\mathrm{ns}}`$ means the time when the two density maxima of the stars are one stellar radius, i.e., $`d_{\mathrm{ns}}=15`$km, apart).

The increase of the orbital separation is connected with a strong rise of the specific (orbital) angular momentum of the gas (Fig. 1). Partly this is due to the fact that the black hole can capture gas with low specific angular momentum first, but mainly because only a fraction of the orbital angular momentum of the accreted gas is fed into spinning up the black hole. This fraction, which is lost for the orbital motion, is proportional to the quantity $`\alpha `$ in Fig. 2. Figure 2 is based on the parameterized analysis of non-conservative mass-transfer by Podsiadlowski, Joss, & Hsu (1992) (see also Fryer et al. 1999) assuming that mass ejection from the system is negligible. It shows that disregarding GW emission, the orbital separation can increase for small initial black hole mass only after the neutron star has lost much mass, while for larger initial $`M_{\mathrm{BH}}`$ and smaller $`\alpha `$ orbital widening is easier. Without GWs the separation increases when $`\alpha <(M_{\mathrm{BH}}M_{\mathrm{NS}})/(M_{\mathrm{BH}}+M_{\mathrm{NS}})`$. Including angular momentum loss by GWs in the point-mass approximation and using the mass-loss rates from the hydrodynamic models (dashed lines in Fig. 2) yields a qualitative understanding of the behavior visible in Fig. 1 and suggests that $`\alpha `$ is between 0.2 and 0.5.

During the merging a gas mass $`\mathrm{\Delta }M_{\mathrm{ej}}`$ of $`10^4M_{}`$ (in case of counter-rotation and $`M_{\mathrm{BH}}=2.5M_{}`$) to $`0.1M_{}`$ (corotation and $`M_{\mathrm{BH}}=10M_{}`$) is dynamically ejected (Table 2). In the latter case the associated angular momentum loss is about 7%, in all other cases it is less than 5% of the total initial angular momentum of the system. Another fraction of up to 24% of the initial angular momentum is carried away by GWs. In Table 2 the rotation parameter $`a=Jc/(GM^2)`$ is given for the initial state of the binary system ($`a_\mathrm{i}`$) and at the end of the simulation ($`a_\mathrm{f}`$) for the remnant of NS/NS mergers or for the black hole in BH/NS systems, respectively, provided the black hole did not have any initial spin. When the whole disk mass $`M_\mathrm{d}`$ has been swallowed by the Kerr black hole, a final value $`a_{\mathrm{BH}}^{\mathrm{}}`$ (Table 2) will be reached in case of the accretion of a corotating, thin disk with maximum radiation efficiency.

The phase of largest mass flow rate to the black hole (between 2 and 5 ms after the start of the simulations) is connected with a maximum of the GW luminosity $`L_{\mathrm{GW}}`$ which reaches up to $`7\times 10^{55}`$erg/s (Table 1). The peak values of $`L_{\mathrm{GW}}`$ and the wave amplitude $`rh`$ (for distance $`r`$ from the source) increase with the black hole mass. The total energy $`E_{\mathrm{GW}}`$ radiated in GWs can be as much as $`0.1M_{}c^2`$ for $`M_{\mathrm{BH}}=10M_{}`$.

### 4.2. Neutrino Emission and GRBs

Compressional heating, shear due to numerical viscosity, and dissipation in shocks heat the gas during accretion to maximum temperatures $`kT^{\mathrm{max}}`$ of several 10 MeV. Average temperatures are between 5 and 20 MeV, the higher values for the less massive and more compact black holes. At these temperatures and at densities of $`10^{10}`$$`10^{12}`$g/cm<sup>3</sup> in the accretion flow, electrons are non-degenerate and positrons abundant. Electron neutrinos and antineutrinos are therefore copiously created via reactions $`p+e^{}n+\nu _e`$ and $`n+e^+p+\overline{\nu }_e`$ and dominate the neutrino energy loss from the accreted matter. Dense and hot neutron matter is not completely transparent to neutrinos. By taking into account the finite diffusion time, the neutrino trapping scheme limits the loss of energy and lepton number.

In Table 1 maximum and average values of the luminosities ($`L_{\nu _i}^{\mathrm{max}}`$ and $`L_{\nu _i}^{\mathrm{av}}`$, respectively, the latter in brackets) in the simulated time intervals are listed for $`\nu _e`$ and $`\overline{\nu }_e`$ and for the sum of all heavy-lepton neutrinos. The latter are denoted by $`\nu _x\nu _\mu ,\overline{\nu }_\mu ,\nu _\tau ,\overline{\nu }_\tau `$ and are mainly produced by $`e^+e^{}`$ annihilation. The total neutrino luminosities $`L_\nu (t)`$ (Fig. 3) fluctuate strongly with the varying mass transfer rate to the black hole during the cycles of orbital decay and widening (compare with Fig. 1). The total energy $`E_\nu `$ radiated in neutrinos in 10–20 ms is typically several $`10^{51}`$erg. Time averages of the mean energies $`ϵ`$ of the emitted neutrinos are $`15`$MeV for $`\nu _e`$, 20 MeV for $`\overline{\nu }_e`$, and 30 MeV for $`\nu _x`$. Luminosities as well as mean energies, in particular for smaller black holes, are significantly higher than in case of NS/NS mergers.

At the end of the simulations, several of the BH/NS models have reached a steady state, characterized by only a slow growth of the black hole mass with a nearly constant accretion rate. Corresponding rates $`\dot{M}_\mathrm{d}`$ are given in Table 2 and are several $`M_{}`$/s. From these we estimate torus life times $`t_{\mathrm{acc}}=M_\mathrm{d}/\dot{M}_\mathrm{d}`$ of 50–150 ms. Values with $`>`$ and $`<`$ signs indicate cases where the evolution and emission are still strongly time-dependent at $`t_{\mathrm{sim}}`$. In these cases the accretion torus around the black hole has also not yet developed axial symmetry. In all other cases the effective disk viscosity parameter $`\alpha _{\mathrm{eff}}v_\mathrm{r}/v_{\mathrm{Kepler}}3\sqrt{6}R_\mathrm{s}/(t_{\mathrm{acc}}c)`$, evaluated at a representative disk radius of $`3R_\mathrm{s}=6GM_{\mathrm{BH}}/c^2`$, has the same value, 4–$`5\times 10^3`$. This value is associated with the numerical viscosity of the hydro code (which solves the Euler equations) for the chosen resolution. The further disk evolution is driven by the angular momentum transport mediated by viscous shear forces, which determines the accretion rate. The physical value of the disk viscosity is unknown. The numerical viscosity of our code, however, is in the range where the viscous energy dissipation and the energy emission by neutrinos should be roughly equal, i.e., where the conversion efficiency $`q_\nu =L_\nu /(\dot{M}_\mathrm{d}c^2)`$ of rest-mass energy to neutrinos is nearly maximal (see Ruffert et al. 1997; Ruffert & Janka 1999).

Assuming that the average neutrino luminosity $`L_\nu `$ at $`t_{\mathrm{sim}}`$ is representative for the subsequent accretion phase, we obtain for $`q_\nu `$ numbers between 4 and 6% and total energies $`E_\nu L_\nu t_{\mathrm{acc}}`$ around $`3\times 10^{52}`$erg (Table 2). Annihilation of neutrino pairs, $`\nu \overline{\nu }e^+e^{}`$, deposits energy at rates up to $`\dot{E}_{\nu \overline{\nu }}2\times 10^{52}`$erg/s in the vicinity of the black hole (Fig. 4). This corresponds to total energies $`E_{\nu \overline{\nu }}\dot{E}_{\nu \overline{\nu }}t_{\mathrm{acc}}`$ as high as $`10^{51}`$erg and annihilation efficiencies $`q_{\nu \overline{\nu }}=\dot{E}_{\nu \overline{\nu }}/L_\nu `$ of 1–3%. These estimates should not change much if the different effects of general relativity on $`\nu \overline{\nu }`$ annihilation are taken into account in combination (Ruffert & Janka 1999; Asano & Fukuyama 1999), but general relativistic simulations of the merging are very important. More energy could be pumped into the $`e^\pm \gamma `$ fireball when the black hole rotates rapidly (Popham, Woosley, & Fryer 1999) or if magnetic fields are able to tap the rotational energy of the accretion torus and of the black hole with higher efficiency than $`\nu \overline{\nu }`$ annihilation does (Blandford & Znajek 1977). This seems to be necessary for the long and very energetic GRBs (Mészáros, Rees, & Wijers 1999; Brown et al. 1999; Lee, Wijers, & Brown 1999).

HTJ was supported by DFG grant SFB 375 für Astro-Teilchenphysik, MR by a PPARC Advanced Fellowship, and CLF by NASA (NAG5-8128) and the US DOE ASCI Program (W-7405-ENG-48).