Plug disintegration in gamma-ray burst jet eruption

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this work, we consider the eruption of a tenuous relativistic hydrodynamic jet from a dense baryonic envelope. As the jet moves out and away, it carries along and continues to accelerate a layer of baryonic material, which we refer to as the plug. We solve the relativistic equations of motion for the trajectory of the plug, and verify it using a relativistic hydrodynamic simulation. We show that under these conditions, the plug breaks up at a radius larger by a factor of a few from the radius of the envelope, due to the onset of the Rayleigh–Taylor instability. After breakup, the jet continues to accelerate to higher Lorentz factors, while the plug fragments maintain a moderate Lorentz factor. The presence of slower moving ejecta can explain late time features of gamma-ray bursts such as X-ray flares without recourse to a long-lived engine.