Electromagnetic transients and r-process nucleosynthesis from the disk wind outflows of neutron star merger remnants

Abstract

The remnant accretion disk formed in binaries involving neutron stars and/or black holes is a source of non-relativistic ejecta. This 'disk wind' is launched on a thermal and/or viscous timescale, and can provide an amount of material comparable to that in the dynamical ejecta. I will present recent work aimed at characterizing

the properties of these winds through time-dependent radiation-hydrodynamic simulations that include the relevant physics needed to follow the ejecta composition. I will focus on the effect of black hole spin and/or hypermassive neutron star lifetime on the disk wind, and on the interaction of the wind with the dynamical ejecta. I will also discuss the implications of these results for the optical/IR signal from these events, and for the origin of r-process elements in the Galaxy.