X-ray flares and their relation to the inner engine activity of GRBs
Abstract
Flares overlaid on the smooth power-law decay of Swift X-ray afterglows are rather common, appearing in roughly half the observed light curves. They are a manifestation of the late time activity of the inner engine, since their temporal evolution is too fast to be linked to activity taking place in the external shock blastwave. In this paper we show that the energy emitted in the form of flares decreases with time as a power-law. We discuss several possibilities in which the flares can be powered and the source of the observed variability. We show that late time accretion from a disk can provide the necessary energy input in both classes of short duration and long duration gamma-ray bursts.
Cite
@article{arxiv.0804.2895,
title = {X-ray flares and their relation to the inner engine activity of GRBs},
author = {Davide Lazzati and Brian J. Morsony and Rosalba Perna and Mitchell C. Begelman},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0804.2895},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
Solicited paper to appear in Proceedings of Gamma Ray Bursts 2007 Meeting, Santa Fe, New Mexico