Periodic Reporting for period 5 - TEDE (Transient Engine Driven Explosions)
Período documentado: 2022-04-01 hasta 2023-03-31
This ERC project focussed on understanding the nature of stellar deaths which are powered by a compact object (usually a neutron star or a black hole) that resides at the centre of the explosion. The energy released from this central engine can transform the explosion, making it brighter than it may otherwise be or allowing other extreme physical processes, such as the synthesis of heavy elements, to occur. The aim of this project is to understand how these central engines impact explosions, from their observational appearance to a test of the ubiquity of black holes in galaxies, to a route to testing the origin of the heaviest elements.
Core results from the grant include:
1) The discovery of the first electromagnetic counterparts to gravitational wave sources
2) The identification of kilonova in long-duration gamma-ray bursts, demonstrating a hitherto unexpected origin
3) The first James Webb Space Telescope observations of long duration gamma-ray bursts
4) The discovery of new forms of tidal disruption event, both relativistic and thermal
5) The discovery of the first gamma-ray burst formed by dynamical processes (collisions) in the dense nuclei of galaxies
6) Studies of the brightest gamma-ray burst of all time.
We have also made progress in understanding the nature of tidal disruption events which produce material moving close to the speed of light. We have published the first time-resolved polarisation of the jet associated with one of these events, as well as Hubble Space Telescope imaging of another example demonstrating it to arise from a merging galaxy, consistent with the idea that such mergers increase the rate of tidal disruptions. More recently we have also undertaken studies of very long-lived GRBs, and used these as a probe of extreme physics, with some very high energy photons being detected from ground-based telescopes minutes to hours after the event. We have also capitalised on recent theoretical work which suggests long-lived gamma-ray bursts may be responsible for some heavy element production and have launched a major campaign at a local long-duration GRB from August.