Article abstract
Nature Physics 2, 116 - 119 (2006)
doi:10.1038/nphys214
Subject Category: Astrophysics
Short gamma-ray bursts from binary neutron star mergers in globular clusters
Jonathan Grindlay1, Simon Portegies Zwart2 and Stephen McMillan3
Abstract
Observations by the Swift gamma-ray-burst (GRB) mission located short GRBs in (or near) elliptical galaxies, that are no longer active in star formation. This suggested that short GRBs are produced when neutron stars (NSs) merge with other NSs or with black holes (BHs). However, the spatial offset of some short GRBs from their host galaxies is not consistent with double-neutron-star (DNS) systems formed from massive binary stars, which appear to remain in galactic disks. Instead, short GRBs may arise from NS mergers in compact binary systems that are naturally produced in globular clusters, in which extreme densities of very old stars can create and exchange compact binaries efficiently. Here we present a simple scaling from the DNS binary observed in the globular cluster M15 in our own Galaxy to the numbers expected for globular clusters around galaxies generally. We present numerical simulations that demonstrate that DNS production in globular clusters may account for 
10–30% of the observed short GRBs. The much more numerous DNS merger rates predicted for galactic disks suggests their associated short GRBs are significantly more beamed, perhaps by the aligned spins and greater magnetic field of their secondary NSs.
- Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St., Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA
- Astronomical Institute Anton Pannekoek and Section Computational Science Kruislaan 403, 1098 SJ Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Physics, Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA
Correspondence to: Jonathan Grindlay1 e-mail: jgrindlay@cfa.harvard.edu
MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS
These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated.
NEWS AND VIEWS
Astrophysics Blasts from the pastNature Physics News and Views (01 Feb 2006)
Puritans and CavaliersNature News and Views (08 Oct 1992)
See all 18 matches for News And ViewsRESEARCH
The optical afterglow of the short γ-ray burst GRB 050709Nature Letters to Editor (06 Oct 2005)
The afterglow and elliptical host galaxy of the short γ-ray burst GRB 050724Nature Letters to Editor (15 Dec 2005)
See all 43 matches for Research
