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The neutron star (NS) merger GW170817 was followed over several days by optical-wavelength (blue) kilonova (KN) emission likely powered by the radioactive decay of light r-process nuclei synthesized by ejecta with a low neutron abundance (electron fraction Ye ~ 0.25-0.35). While the composition and high velocities of the blue KN ejecta are consistent with shock-heated dynamical material, the large quantity is in tension with the results of numerical simulations. We propose an alternative ejecta source: the neutrino-heated, magnetically-accelerated wind from the strongly-magnetized hypermassive NS (HMNS) remnant. A rapidly-spinning HMNS with an ordered surface magnetic field of strength B ~ 1-3e14 G and lifetime t_rem ~ 0.1-1 s can simultaneously explain the velocity, total mass, and electron fraction of the blue KN ejecta. The inferred HMNS lifetime is close to its Alfven crossing time, suggesting global magnetic torques could be responsible for bringing the HMNS into solid body rotation and instigating its gravitational collapse. Different origins for the KN ejecta may be distinguished by their predictions for the emission in the first hours after the merger, when the luminosity is enhanced by heating from internal shocks; the latter are likely generic to any temporally-extended ejecta source (e.g. magnetar or accretion disk wind) and are not unique to the emergence of a relativistic jet. The same shocks could mix and homogenizes the composition to a low but non-zero lanthanide mass fraction, X_La ~ 1e-3, as advocated by some authors, but only if the mixing occurs after neutrons are consumed in the r-process on a timescale >~ 1 s.
The source of the gravitational-wave signal GW170817, very likely a binary neutron star merger, was also observed electromagnetically, providing the first multi-messenger observations of this type. The two week long electromagnetic counterpart had a
In July 2018 an FRIB Theory Alliance program was held on the implications of GW170817 and its associated kilonova for r-process nucleosynthesis. Topics of discussion included the astrophysical and nuclear physics uncertainties in the interpretation o
Recent detection of gravitational waves from a neutron star (NS) merger event GW170817 and identification of an electromagnetic counterpart provide a unique opportunity to study the physical processes in NS mergers. To derive properties of ejected ma
The 2017 detection of the inspiral and merger of two neutron stars in gravitational waves and gamma rays was accompanied by a quickly-reddening transient. Such a transient was predicted to occur following a rapid neutron capture (r-process) nucleosyn
With the first direct detection of merging black holes in 2015, the era of gravitational wave (GW) astrophysics began. A complete picture of compact object mergers, however, requires the detection of an electromagnetic (EM) counterpart. We report ult