Gravitational-Wave Signal from a Short GRB Relativistic MHD Jet

Abstract

We analyze the gravitational-wave (GW) signal produced by a relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation of a short GRB jet with parameters corresponding to those of GRB 170817A. The signal that is generated in the hidden central engine of the GRBs is computed by direct integration of the retarded solution of the linearized Einstein equations of an MHD simulation. Separating the GW signal into its baryonic and electromagnetic contributions, we identify the physical origin of its dominant features. The waveform is of the memory type, with $h(f) \propto 1/f$ at low frequencies and a knee at $\sim 0.5-0.5$Hz set by the energy injection time, which corresponds to the GRB duration. A pronounced early peak reflects the opening of the magnetic field lines and the equatorial kick given to the ejecta at the onset of the jet, demonstrating that the GW signal can reveal processes deep in the GRB engine that cannot be observed otherwise. The signal is strongest for observers far from the jet axis. The total radiated GW energy is only $\sim 10^{42}$ erg, about $10^{-9}$ of the jet energy; it scales as ${\cal E}^2/τ$ with the shortest variability time $τ$, so this is a lower limit. Comparing the predicted spectrum with the sensitivity of current and future detectors, we find that events similar to GW170817 are marginally detectable by DECIGO from up to 10 Mpc and by the Einstein Telescope from 1 Mpc. The injected Poynting flux in this simulation was smooth. An engine variable on a millisecond timescale, as predicted in some GRB models, would substantially increase the GW energy and detectability.