A magnetar-powered jet-wind outflow in gamma-ray burst-associated supernovae: Application to the thermal components of GRB 060218-SN 2006aj
Abstract
A rapidly rotating magnetar formed in the collapse of a massive star may release its spin-down power through both a collimated polar jet and a quasi-isotropic magnetar wind. With its long-lasting soft X-ray blackbody component and the double-peaked UV/optical light curves of SN 2006aj, GRB 060218-SN 2006aj provides a useful test case for such a two-component energy-injection scenario. We developed a magnetar-powered jet-wind model in which the two outflows interact with homologously expanding SN ejecta, driving forward shocks that produce shock-breakout emission and subsequent magnetar-powered thermal emission. We first used the jet component to fit the 0.3-10 keV blackbody flux and temperature evolution of GRB 060218 and subsequently added the wind component to model the UV/optical light curves of SN 2006aj. We find that the soft X-ray blackbody component can be reproduced mainly by shock-breakout emission from the polar ejecta driven by the jet. The double-peaked UV/optical light curves are instead produced by the interaction between the quasi-isotropic magnetar wind and a more massive ejecta component. The first optical peak is dominated by wind-driven shock-breakout emission, whereas the broader and later emission is powered mainly by the subsequent magnetar-powered thermal component. Our results suggest a two-component magnetar-engine picture for GRB 060218-SN 2006aj, in which the X-ray thermal emission and the UV/optical double-peaked evolution arise from different energy-injection channels of the same central engine.
Versions
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BibTeX
@misc{li2026magnetarpowered,
title = {{A magnetar-powered jet-wind outflow in gamma-ray burst-associated supernovae: Application to the thermal components of GRB 060218-SN 2006aj}},
author = {Yun-Peng Li and Da-Bin Lin},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.27649},
eprint = {2609.27649},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.27649},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - A magnetar-powered jet-wind outflow in gamma-ray burst-associated supernovae: Application to the thermal components of GRB 060218-SN 2006aj
AU - Yun-Peng Li
AU - Da-Bin Lin
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/23
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.27649
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.27649
AB - A rapidly rotating magnetar formed in the collapse of a massive star may release its spin-down power through both a collimated polar jet and a quasi-isotropic magnetar wind. With its long-lasting soft X-ray blackbody component and the double-peaked UV/optical light curves of SN 2006aj, GRB 060218-SN 2006aj provides a useful test case for such a two-component energy-injection scenario. We developed a magnetar-powered jet-wind model in which the two outflows interact with homologously expanding SN ejecta, driving forward shocks that produce shock-breakout emission and subsequent magnetar-powered thermal emission. We first used the jet component to fit the 0.3-10 keV blackbody flux and temperature evolution of GRB 060218 and subsequently added the wind component to model the UV/optical light curves of SN 2006aj. We find that the soft X-ray blackbody component can be reproduced mainly by shock-breakout emission from the polar ejecta driven by the jet. The double-peaked UV/optical light curves are instead produced by the interaction between the quasi-isotropic magnetar wind and a more massive ejecta component. The first optical peak is dominated by wind-driven shock-breakout emission, whereas the broader and later emission is powered mainly by the subsequent magnetar-powered thermal component. Our results suggest a two-component magnetar-engine picture for GRB 060218-SN 2006aj, in which the X-ray thermal emission and the UV/optical double-peaked evolution arise from different energy-injection channels of the same central engine.
ER -