Astro Seminar: Shunke Ai

Speaker: Shunke Ai (NBI)

Title: Research on the central remnants of binary neutron star mergers 

Abstract: The joint detection of gravitational waves (GWs) and electromagnetic (EM) radiation from the binary neutron star (BNS) merger GW170817 marked the beginning of the era of multi-messenger astronomy. Studies on GW170817 have achieved great success, although the nature of the central remnant is still under debate. Theoretically, the type of central remnant depends on both the total mass of the BNS system and the equation of state (EOS) of neutron stars (NSs). If the remnant were a long-lived magnetar, much more abundant EM signals would be expected. In this talk, I will first review the criteria for the different channels that produce the central remnant in BNS mergers, and how multi-messenger observations can be used to constrain the maximum mass of NSs. Then, I will introduce an updated model to calculate the engine-fed kilonova when the central remnant is a long-lived magnetar.

Organizers: Irene Tamborra, Christopher William Tiede, and Johan Georg Mulvad Samsing