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ABSTRACT Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are produced during the propagation of ultra-relativistic jets. It is challenging to study the jet close to the central source, due to the high opacity of the medium. In this paper, we present numerical simulations of relativistic jets propagating through a massive, stripped envelope star associated to long GRBs, breaking out of the star and accelerating into the circumstellar medium. We compute the gravitational wave (GW) signal resulting from the propagation of the jet through the star and the circumstellar medium. We show that key parameters of the jet propagation can be directly determined by the GW signal. The signal presents a first peak corresponding to the jet duration and a second peak which corresponds to the break-out time for an observer located close to the jet axis (which in turn depends on the stellar size), or to much larger times (corresponding to the end of the acceleration phase) for off-axis observers. We also show that the slope of the GW signal before and around the first peak tracks the jet luminosity history and the structure of the progenitor star. The amplitude of the GW signal is h+D ∼ hundreds to several thousands cm. Although this signal, for extragalactic sources, is outside the range of detectability of current GW detectors, it can be detected by future instruments as BBO, DECIGO, and ALIA. Our results illustrate that future detections of GW associated to GRB jets may represent a revolution in our understanding of this phenomenon. 

ABSTRACT The discovery of GRB 170817A, the first unambiguous off-axis short gamma-ray burst (sGRB) arising from a neutron star merger, has challenged our understanding of the angular structure of relativistic jets. Studies of the jet propagation usually assume that the jet is ejected from the central engine with a top-hat structure and its final structure, which determines the observed light curve and spectra, is primarily regulated by the interaction with the nearby environment. However, jets are expected to be produced with a structure that is more complex than a simple top-hat, as shown by global accretion simulations. We present numerical simulations of sGRBs launched with a wide range of initial structures, durations, and luminosities. We follow the jet interaction with the merger remnant wind and compute its final structure at distances ≳1011 cm from the central engine. We show that the final jet structure, as well as the resulting afterglow emission, depends strongly on the initial structure of the jet, its luminosity, and duration. While the initial structure of the jet is preserved for long-lasting sGRBs, it is strongly modified for jets barely making their way through the wind. This illustrates the importance of combining the results of global simulations with propagation studies in order to better predict the expected afterglow signatures from neutron star mergers. Structured jets provide a reasonable description of the GRB 170817A afterglow emission with an off-axis angle θobs ≈ 22.5°.