The Diversity of Massive Stellar Deaths and Relativistic Jets: Unraveling a Cosmic Tandem

Speaker: Gokul Srinivasaragavan (University of Maryland) In Person and zoom

Some of the most powerful probes of black holes and neutron stars in the Universe are engine-driven transients, which are rare explosions triggered by a massive star undergoing a core-collapse supernova (SN), collapsing into a compact object and launching a relativistic jet. In addition to probing extreme physics, the study of these explosions sheds light on broader astrophysical questions such as the complexity of massive stellar evolution and the origin of systems detected in gravitational waves, making their characterization incredibly important. Historically, most telescopes focused on discovering long gamma-ray bursts (LGRBs) to study these transients. Thanks to new observational capabilities, we are beginning to discover engine-driven transients that do not produce observable gamma-rays, illustrating the diversity of massive stellar deaths and relativistic jets. During this talk, I will highlight this diversity, presenting multiwavelength studies on different classes of engine-driven transients including GRB-SNe, broad-lined Type Ic SNe, orphan afterglows, and X-ray Flashes. I will conclude by discussing how the next generation of time-domain surveys such as the Einstein Probe and Rubin Telescope will revolutionize the study of engine-driven transients, transforming our understanding of how compact objects launch the fastest outflows in the Universe.