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Science 5 May 2006:
Vol. 312. no. 5774, p. 653
DOI: 10.1126/science.312.5774.653c
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This Week in Science
Short gamma-ray bursts are thought to result when two compact neutron stars merge to form a black hole. Strong magnetism has been thought to produce the gamma rays, but the mechanism is not clear. Price and Rosswog (p. 719, published online 30 March; see the cover) have modeled the death throes of a binary pair of neutron stars and included the effects of magnetism as well as hydrodynamics and gravity. In their simulations, a strong shear layer develops at the interface between the two stars during the first few milliseconds of the merger. Turbulent eddies within this layer amplify the magnetic fields to greater than 1015 Gauss, which is even stronger than those in known magnetic stars. This process occurs very quickly, so that the gamma-ray bursts may be emitted before the black hole is actually formed.
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)
