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Collapsar black hole spin evolution in 3D neutrino transport GRMHD simulations

Danat Issa ^1,2,*, Beverly Lowell ¹, Jonatan Jacquemin-Ide^3,1, Matthew Liska ⁴, and Alexander Tchekhovskoy ^1,5

¹Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA), Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60201, USA
²MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
³JILA, University of Colorado and National Institute of Standards and Technology, 440 UCB, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0440, USA
⁴Center for Relativistic Astrophysics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Howey Physics Building, 837 State Street Northwest, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA
⁵NSF-Simons AI Institute for the Sky (SkAI), 172 East Chestnut Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611, USA

^*Contact author: danat@mit.edu

Phys. Rev. D 113, 083020 – Published 15 April, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/fzhd-hcpp

Abstract

Collapsars—massive stars whose cores promptly collapse into black holes (BHs)—can power long-duration $γ$ -ray bursts (LGRBs) via relativistic, collimated, electromagnetically driven outflows, or jets. Their power depends on the BH magnetic field strength and spin. To survive the infalling stellar material, jets need the central BH to attain dynamically important magnetic fields that can suppress the mass inflow and lead to a magnetically arrested disk (MAD). Previous work found that nonradiative MADs can spin down their BHs to an equilibrium spin, $a_{eq}^{nr} = 0.035 - 0.07$ . Such low spins result in extremely low power jets that may struggle to escape out of the star. However, the dense and hot collapsar disks emit neutrinos that cool the disk, reduce its thickness, and increase the angular momentum supply to the BH. Using 3D two-moment neutrino-transport general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations, we show for the first time that successful collapsar jets powered by neutrino-cooled disks still rapidly spin down their BHs, although to a higher $a_{eq} \approx 0.13$ . This value is consistent with Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory/Virgo/Kamioka Gravitational Wave Detector inferred spins, is 2–4 times higher than for nonradiative MADs, and results in 4–16 times more powerful LGRB jets, which are more capable of drilling out of the progenitor star. This value of $a_{eq}$ holds across a wide range of progenitor structures and mass accretion rates, $\dot{m} \sim (0.1 - 10) M_{⊙} / s$ . We find that for typical LGRB durations, $t ≳ 30 s$ , such BHs consume sufficient mass to reach $a_{eq} \approx 0.13$ by LGRB’s end. However, shorter or lower- $\dot{m}$ LGRBs can leave behind more rapidly spinning BHs.

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