Search results for "AFTERGLOW"
showing 10 items of 62 documents
Angular Energy Distribution of Collapsar-Jets
2008
Collapsars are fast-spinning, massive stars, whose core collapse liberates an energy, that can be channeled in the form of ultrarelativistic jets. These jets transport the energy from the collapsed core to large distances, where it is dissipated in the form of long-duration gamma-ray bursts. In this paper we study the dynamics of ultrarelativistic jets produced in collapsars. Also we extrapolate our results to infer the angular energy distribution of the produced outflows in the afterglow phase. Our main focus is to look for global energetical properties which can be imprinted by the different structure of different progenitor stars. Thus, we employ a number of pre-supernova, stellar models…
Afterglow model for the radio emission from the jetted tidal disruption candidate Swift J1644+57
2012
The recent transient event Swift J1644+57 has been interpreted as emission from a collimated relativistic jet, powered by the sudden onset of accretion onto a supermassive black hole following the tidal disruption of a star. Here we model the radio-microwave emission as synchrotron radiation produced by the shock interaction between the jet and the gaseous circumnuclear medium (CNM). At early times after the onset of the jet (t < 5-10 days) a reverse shock propagates through and decelerates the ejecta, while at later times the outflow approaches the Blandford-McKee self-similar evolution (possibly modified by additional late energy injection). The achromatic break in the radio light curve o…
Radio afterglow of the jetted tidal disruption event Swift J1644+57
2012
The recent transient event Swift J1644+57 has been interpreted as resulting from a relativistic outflow, powered by the accretion of a tidally disrupted star onto a supermassive black hole. This discovery of a new class of relativistic transients opens new windows into the study of tidal disruption events (TDEs) and offers a unique probe of the physics of relativistic jet formation and the conditions in the centers of distant quiescent galaxies. Unlike the rapidly-varying γ/X-ray emission from Swift J1644+57, the radio emission varies more slowly and is well modeled as synchrotron radiation from the shock interaction between the jet and the gaseous circumnuclear medium (CNM). Early after th…
On the existence of a reverse shock in magnetized gamma-ray burst ejecta
2007
The role of magnetic fields in gamma-ray burst (GRB) flows remains controversial. The study of the early afterglow phases and, in particular, of the reverse shock dynamics and associated emission offers a promising probe of the magnetization of the ejecta. In this paper, we derive the conditions for the existence of a reverse shock in arbitrarily magnetized ejecta that decelerate and interact with the circumburst medium. Both constant and wind-like density profiles are considered. We show, in contrast to previous estimates, that ejecta with magnetization σ0 >∼ 1 are not crossed by a reverse shock for a large fraction of the parameter space relevant to GRB flows. Allowing for shell spreading…
The Ultra Fast Flash Observatory pathfinder – UFFO-p GRB imaging and location with its coded mask X-ray imager UBAT
2013
The UFFO pathfinder mission will attempt to locate the optical afterglow of a GRB within seconds of its detection and location by a wide field X-ray imager. It will be mounted on the Lomonosov spacecraft for launch in 2013 and consists of a coded mask X-ray imager UBAT to detect a GRB and estimate a direction vector which will be passed to the SMT optical system which will rotate a moveable mirror to lock onto the GRB and direct the optical afterglow to a camera with a ~17′ wide aperture. We present the design geometry of the UBAT instrument only, with results of simulations for a range of GRB types to show probable photon integration times to be expected to extract a significant FOV image…
Detection of the high z GRB 080913 and its implications on progenitors and energy extraction mechanisms*
2010
We present multiwavelength observations of one of the most distant gamma-ray bursts detected so far, GRB080913. Based on these observations, we consider whether it could be classified as a short-duration GRB and discuss the implications for the progenitor nature and energy extraction mechanisms. Methods. Multiwavelength X-ray, near IR and millimetre observations were made between 20.7 h and ∼16.8 days after the event. Results. Whereas a very faint afterglow was seen at the 3.5m CAHA telescope in the nIR, the X-ray afterglow was clearly detected in both Swift and XMM-Newton observations. An upper limit is reported in the mm range. We have modeled the data assuming a collimated θ0 3◦ blast wa…
An RMHD study of transition between prompt and afterglow GRB phases
2008
We study the afterglow phases of a GRB through relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations. The evolution of a relativistic shell propagating into a homogeneous external medium is followed. We focus on the effect of the magnetization of the ejecta on the initial phases of the ejecta-external medium interaction. In particular we are studying the condition for the existence of a reverse shock into the ejecta, the timescale for the transfer of the energy from the shell to the shocked medium and the resulting multiwavelength light curves. To this end, we have developed a novel scheme to include non-thermal processeses which is coupled to the relativistic magnetohydrodynamic code MRGENESIS in o…
Afterglow light curves from magnetized GRB flows
2010
AbstractUsing the RMHD code MRGENESIS and the radiative transfer code SPEV we compute multiwavelength afterglow light curves of magnetized ejecta of gamma-ray bursts interacting with a uniform circumburst medium. We are interested in the emission from the reverse shock when ejecta magnetization varies from σ0 = 0 to σ0 = 1. For typical parameters of the ejecta, the emission from the reverse shock peaks for magnetization σ0 ~ 0.01 − 0.1, and is suppressed for higher σ0. We fit the early afterglow light curves of GRB 990123 and 090102 and discuss the possible magnetization of the outflows of these bursts. Finally we discuss the amount energy left in the magnetic field which is available for d…
Exploring Broadband GRB Behavior During gamma-ray Emission
2007
The robotic ROTSE-III telescope network detected prompt optical emission contemporaneous with the gamma-ray emission of Swift events GRB051109A and GRB051111. Both datasets have continuous coverage at high signal-to-noise levels from the prompt phase onwards, thus the early observations are readily compared to the Swift XRT and BAT high energy detections. In both cases, the optical afterglow is established, declining steadily during the prompt emission. For GRB051111, there is evidence of an excess optical component during the prompt emission. The component is consistent with the flux spectrally extrapolated from the gamma-rays, using the gamma-ray spectral index. A compilation of spectral …
GRB 050410 and GRB 050412: are they really dark gamma-ray bursts?
2007
We present a detailed analysis of the prompt and afterglow emission of GRB 050410 and GRB 050412 detected by Swift for which no optical counterpart was observed. The 15-150 keV energy distribution of the GRB 050410 prompt emission shows a peak energy at 53 keV. The XRT light curve of this GRB decays as a power law with a slope of alpha=1.06+/-0.04. The spectrum is well reproduced by an absorbed power law with a spectral index Gamma_x=2.4+/-0.4 and a low energy absorption N_H=4(+3;-2)x10^21 cm^(-2) which is higher than the Galactic value. The 15-150 keV prompt emission in GRB 050412 is modelled with a hard (Gamma=0.7+/-0.2) power law. The XRT light curve follows a broken power law with the f…