Electromagnetic Signatures of Relativistic Explosions in AGN Disks

Understand

The disks of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs), traditionally studied as the feeders of the supermassive black holes (SMBHs) at their centers, have recently triggered a lot of interest also as hosts to massive stars and hence their neutron star (NS) and black hole (BH) remnants.

• Migration traps and gas torques in these disks favor binary formation and enhance the rate of compact object mergers.
• In these environments both long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) from the death of massive stars and short GRBs from NS-NS and NS-BH mergers are expected.
• However, their properties in the unique environments of AGN disks have never been studied.