Short gamma ray bursts that occur in our solar system are some of the brightest explosions to be observed by scientists. These explosions occur when the life of an ultra dense neutron star is ended by a catastrophic collapse to a black hole. The result of these short gamma ray bursts releases as much energy in one second as our entire galaxy does in a year. Scientists have long speculated that enormous magnetic field strengths are the key ingredient to explaining these powerful emissions, but had not been able to recreate such forces.
At the Albert Einstein Institute (AEI), scientists set out to determine how these magnetic fields—one hundred million billion times stronger than Earth’s magnetic field—could be generated from neutron stars that have a much lower magnetic field strength. These scientists were able to explain this phenomenon by finding rotating plasma layers in these magnetic fields that were continuously rubbing together. This process is called magnetorotational instability and causes magnetic fields to become extremely amplified. Until now, scientists had not been able to recreate this phenomenon without the present numerical simulations.
Scientists at AEI simulated a hypermassive neutron star with an ordered magnetic field that was then subsequently made more complex as the star continued rotating. Once it becomes dynamically unstable, it eventually collapses to a black hole. These simulations have shown and confirmed the presence of magnetorotational instability and its effect on the rapid amplification of these stars magnetic fields.
The results of these findings have a two-fold effect. First off, it shows the development of the magnetorotational instability in the framework of Einstein’s theory of general relativity. Secondly, and most importantly, it has a profound astrophysical impact because it proves that ultra strong magnetic fields could be the key ingredient in understand the massive energy release of these short gamma ray bursts.
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What is a gamma ray? Is it the stuff you see on movies?
Hello, Blaster! While movies do reference gamma rays, they may not fully explain what they are. Gamma rays have the shortest wavelength on the electromagnetic spectrum and are the most powerful waves. They are created from nuclear explosions and are strong enough to kill living cells! That’s why scientists use gamma rays to kill cancerous cells. To put into perspective how powerful gamma rays are, gamma ray bursts release more energy in 10 seconds than the sun will emit in its 10 billion-year lifetime! Pretty incredible, huh?
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