What SWIFT has taught us about X-ray flashes and long-duration gamma-ray bursts
Abstract
Recent data gathered and triggered by the SWIFT satellite have greatly improved our knowledge of long-duration gamma ray bursts (GRBs) and X-ray flashes (XRFs). This is particularly the case for the X-ray data at all times, and for UV and optical data at very early times. I show that the optical and X-ray observations are in excellent agreement with the predictions of the "cannonball" model of GRBs and XRFs. Elementary physics and just two mechanisms underlie these predictions: inverse Compton scattering and synchrotron radiation, generally dominant at early and late times, respectively. I put this result in its proper context and dedicate the paper to those who planed, built and operate SWIFT, a true flying jewel.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.0707.0283,
title = {What SWIFT has taught us about X-ray flashes and long-duration gamma-ray bursts},
author = {A. De Rujula},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0707.0283},
year = {2007}
}
Comments
A talk at the 2007 Frascati Workshop, Vulcano, Italy. 12 pages total, 17 figures