The imprint of individual neutron star spins on ejecta, r -process nucleosynthesis, and kilonovae in binary neutron star mergers

Abstract To leading order, the gravitational-wave (GW) signal from binary neutron stars depends on the individual spins, χ1 and χ2, only through the effective spin parameter χeff. We present the first systematic investigation of individual-spin effects on ejecta, r-process nucleosynthesis, and kilonova emission, including comparisons at fixed total mass, mass ratio and χeff. We use numerical relativity ejecta from three total mass regimes with the finite-temperature, composition-dependent SFHo equation of state and neutrino emission and absorption. For Mtot = 2.55 M⊙ at fixed χeff = 0, individual spins change the dynamical ejecta mass by a factor of ∼45, while the absolute A ≥ 140 yield spans more than two orders of magnitude and the lanthanide to light r-process mass ratio increases from ∼2 to ∼70. Prompt-collapse 4.10 M⊙ models show heavy-element yield differences exceeding four orders of magnitude at χeff = 0. The kilonova retains the individual-spin imprint, with peak brightness differences reaching ∼0.9 mag. At 40 Mpc, all three fixed χeff = 0 pairs remain above adopted depths at common epochs for all viewing angles, with same-epoch colour differences reaching ∼1.5 mag. The colour imprint persists when the simulation-derived secular ejecta are replaced by the same parametric disc outflow, indicating that disc mass differences are not the primary driver and that dynamical ejecta make an important contribution. Neutrino absorption systematically brightens the kilonova and shifts peak-associated colours blueward. These EM signatures can break the degeneracy between individual spins in the GW signal.