Did Swift measure GRB prompt emission radii?
Abstract
The Swift X-Ray Telescope often observes a rapidly decaying X-ray emission stretching to as long as seconds after a conventional prompt phase. This component is most likely due to a prompt emission viewed at large observer angles , where is a typical viewing angle of the jet and is the Lorentz factor of the flow during the prompt phase. This can be used to estimate the prompt emission radii, cm. These radii are much larger than is assumed within a framework of a fireball model. Such large emission radii can be reconciled with a fast variability, on time scales as short as milliseconds, if the emission is beamed in the bulk outflow frame, e.g. due to a random relativistic motion of ''fundamental emitters''. This may also offer a possible explanation for X-ray flares observed during early afterglows.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/0601557,
title = {Did Swift measure GRB prompt emission radii?},
author = {Maxim Lyutikov},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/0601557},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
9 pages, 2 figure, submitted to MNRAS Letters