Polarized Gravitational Waves from Gamma-Ray Bursts

Abstract

Significant gravitational wave emission is expected from gamma-ray bursts arising from compact stellar mergers, and possibly also from bursts associated with fast-rotating massive stellar core collapses. These models have in common a high angular rotation rate, and observations provide evidence for jet collimation of the photon emission, with properties depending on the polar angle, which may also be of relevance for X-ray flashes. Here we consider the gravitational wave emission and its polarization as a function of angle which is expected from such sources. We discuss possible correlations between the burst photon luminosity, or the delay between gravitational wave bursts and X-ray flashes, and the polarization degree of the gravitational waves.

10 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication in ApJL