The Leonard E Parker Center for Gravitation, Cosmology and Astrophysics holds frequent seminars on a broad range of ongoing cosmology and gravitation research topics. Unless otherwise noted, seminars are on Friday afternoons at 1:00 PM in KIRC 2175; there is a gathering for a brown bag lunch at 12:30.

Binary neutron star mergers: A jet engine for short gamma-ray bursts
Dr. Ryan Lang, UWM Physics Research Associate

Mergers of black hole-neutron star (BHNS) and neutron star-neutron star (NSNS) binaries are among the most promising candidates for the engines that power short gamma-ray bursts (sGRBs). The most likely sGRB model requires the presence of a highly relativistic jet. Previous work has shown that BHNS systems can produce an incipient jet, provided that the initial magnetic field of the neutron star is allowed to extend from the interior of the star into the exterior. We have recently performed magnetohydrodynamic simulations in full general relativity to explore the NSNS case. We find that, like BHNS systems, NSNS binaries do form relativistic jets. However, unlike in BHNS systems, the emergence of the jet is independent of the initial magnetic field geometry.