Wave Modes in Collapsar Jets

Collapsars may be a source for the “long” Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) in the BATSE catalog. Collapsars may radiate gamma rays anisotropically by beamed jet emission close to the observer’s line of sight. These jets must penetrate the radiation-dominated medium of their collapsar progenitor and break through its atmosphere in order to produce a GRB. We present a study of previously published, axisymmetric, collapsar jet simulations. Here we use the linearized, relativistic fluid equations to find the Kelvin-Helmholtz modes that are triggered by recollimation shocks within the jet. The modes will grow as they propagate with the jet. These are of interest since the light curves of GRBs show evidence of a variable flow from the GRB engine. We also evaluate effects of grid scaling in the numerical simulation and show that short wavelength modes are suppressed by grid scaling before the jet breaks out of the Helium shell.