Late-time radio observations of the short GRB 200522A: Constraints on the magnetar model

Abstract

GRB 200522A is a short duration gamma-ray burst (GRB) at redshift z=0.554 characterized by a bright infrared counterpart. A possible, although not unambiguous, interpretation of the observed emission is the onset of a luminous kilonova powered by a rapidly rotating and highly magnetized neutron star, known as magnetar. A bright radio flare, arising from the interaction of the kilonova ejecta with the surrounding medium, is a prediction of this model. Whereas the available data set remains open to multiple interpretations (e.g. afterglow, r-process kilonova, magnetar-powered kilonova), long-term radio monitoring of this burst may be key to discriminate between models. We present our late-time upper limit on the radio emission of GRB 200522A, carried out with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array at 288 d after the burst. For kilonova ejecta with energy Eej≈ 1053erg, as expected for a long-lived magnetar remnant, we can already rule out ejecta masses Mej≲ 0.03M⊙for the most likely range of circumburst densities n ≳ 10-3cm-3. Observations on timescales of ≈3-10 yr after the merger will probe larger ejecta masses up to Mej∼0.1M⊙, providing a robust test to the magnetar scenario.