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Title: The First Short GRB Millimeter Afterglow: The Wide-angled Jet of the Extremely Energetic SGRB 211106A
Abstract We present the discovery of the first millimeter afterglow of a short-duration γ -ray burst (SGRB) and the first confirmed afterglow of an SGRB localized by the GUANO system on Swift. Our Atacama Large Millimeter/Sub-millimeter Array (ALMA) detection of SGRB 211106A establishes an origin in a faint host galaxy detected in Hubble Space Telescope imaging at 0.7 ≲ z ≲ 1.4. From the lack of a detectable optical afterglow, coupled with the bright millimeter counterpart, we infer a high extinction, A V ≳ 2.6 mag along the line of sight, making this one of the most highly dust-extincted SGRBs known to date. The millimeter-band light curve captures the passage of the synchrotron peak from the afterglow forward shock and reveals a jet break at t jet = 29.2 − 4.0 + 4.5 days. For a presumed redshift of z = 1, we infer an opening angle, θ jet = (15.°5 ± 1.°4), and beaming-corrected kinetic energy of log ( E K / erg ) = 51.8 ± 0.3 , making this one of the widest and most energetic SGRB jets known to date. Combining all published millimeter-band upper limits in conjunction with the energetics for a large sample of SGRBs, we find that energetic outflows in high-density environments are more likely to have detectable millimeter counterparts. Concerted afterglow searches with ALMA should yield detection fractions of 24%–40% on timescales of ≳2 days at rates of ≈0.8–1.6 per year, outpacing the historical discovery rate of SGRB centimeter-band afterglows.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2047919 2224255 2221789 1944985 1909796 1814782
PAR ID:
10350613
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Volume:
935
Issue:
1
ISSN:
2041-8205
Page Range / eLocation ID:
L11
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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