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Neutron star merger accretion discs can launch neutron-rich winds of >10−2M⊙. This ejecta is a prime site for r-process nucleosynthesis, which will produce a range of radioactive heavy nuclei. The decay of these nuclei releases enough energy to accelerate portions of the wind by ∼0.1c. Here, we investigate the effect of r-process heating on the dynamical evolution of disc winds. We extract the wind from a 3D general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulation of a disc from a post-merger system. This is used to create inner boundary conditions for 2D hydrodynamic simulations that continue the original 3D simulation. We perform two such simulations: one that includes the r-process heating, and another one that does not. We follow the hydrodynamic simulations until the winds reach homology (60 s). Using time-dependent multifrequency multidimensional Monte Carlo radiation transport simulations, we then calculate the kilonova light curves from the winds with and without dynamical r-process heating. We find that the r-process heating can substantially alter the velocity distribution of the wind, shifting the mass-weighted median velocity from 0.06c to 0.12c. The inclusion of the dynamical r-process heating makes the light curve brighter and bluer at $\sim 1\, \mathrm{d}$ post-merger. However, the high-velocity tail of the ejecta distribution and the early ($\lesssim 1\, \mathrm{d}$) light curves are largely unaffected.

 

ABSTRACT The merger of two neutron stars produces an outflow of radioactive heavy nuclei. Within a second of merger, the central remnant is expected to also launch a relativistic jet, which shock-heats and disrupts a portion of the radioactive ejecta. Within a few hours, emission from the radioactive material gives rise to an ultraviolet, optical, and infrared transient (a kilonova). We use the endstates of a suite of 2D relativistic hydrodynamic simulations of jet–ejecta interaction as initial conditions for multidimensional Monte Carlo radiation transport simulations of the resulting viewing angle-dependent light curves and spectra starting at $1.5\, \mathrm{h}$ after merger. We find that on this time-scale, jet shock heating does not affect the kilonova emission for the jet parameters we survey. However, the jet disruption to the density structure of the ejecta does change the light curves. The jet carves a channel into the otherwise spheroidal ejecta, revealing the hot, inner regions. As seen from near (≲30°) the jet axis, the kilonova is brighter by a factor of a few and bluer. The strength of this effect depends on the jet parameters, since the light curves of more heavily disrupted ejecta are more strongly affected. The light curves and spectra are also more heavily modified in the ultraviolet than in the optical.