Related papers: The Molecular Hydrogen Deficit in Gamma-Ray Burst …
Gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglow observations have allowed us to significantly constrain the engines producing these energetic explosions. Te redshift and position information provided by these afterglows have already allowed us to limit the…
The gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows provide an unique opportunity to study the interstellar medium (ISM) of star-forming galaxies at high-redshift. The GRB-DLAs (damped Lyman-$\alpha$ absorbers) contain a large neutral hydrogen column…
We have derived the column densities of heavy elements in three gamma-ray burst (GRB) optical transients, associated with the circumburst or interstellar medium (ISM) of the host galaxy. In comparison with the same elements observed in…
We forecast the reionization history constraints, inferred from Lyman-alpha damping wing absorption features, for a future sample of $\sim 20$ $z \geq 6$ gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows. We describe each afterglow spectrum by a…
In recent work, we have shown that it is possible to link quantitatively many aspects of damped Lyman alpha (DLA) absorbers in the spectra of quasars to high resolution simulations of galaxy formation. Using runs from the same series of…
If a gamma ray burst with strong UV emission occurs in a molecular cloud, there will be observable consequences resulting from excitation of the surrounding H2. The UV pulse from the GRB will pump H2 into vibrationally-excited levels which…
We present the results of a spectroscopic search for narrow emission and absorption features in the X-ray spectra of long gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows. Using XMM-Newton data, both EPIC and RGS spectra, of six bright (fluence >10^{-7}…
We report the detections of molecular hydrogen (H$_2$), vibrationally-excited H$_2$ (H$^*_2$), and neutral atomic carbon (CI), in two new afterglow spectra of GRBs\,181020A ($z=2.938$) and 190114A ($z=3.376$), observed with X-shooter at the…
Here we built up a sample of 22 GRBs at redshifts $z > 2$ observed with X-shooter to determine the abundances of hydrogen, metals, dust, and molecular species. This allows us to study the metallicity and dust depletion effects in the…
The association of long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) with star forming regions and the idea of massive stars as progenitors of GRBs are widely accepted. Because of their short lifetimes, it is very likely that massive stars are still embedded in…
We have constructed three-dimensional models for the equilibrium abundance of molecular hydrogen within diffuse interstellar clouds of arbitrary geometry that are illuminated by ultraviolet radiation. The position-dependent photo-…
We present hydrodynamical models of circumstellar medium (CSM) of long gamma-ray burst (GRB) progenitor candidates. These are massive stars that have lost a large amount of mass in the form of stellar wind during their evolution. There are…
The detection of delayed emission at X-ray optical and radio wavelengths, ``after-glow'', suggests that the relativistic shell which emitted the initial GRB due to internal shocks decelerates on encountering an external medium, giving rise…
Recent observations of the environments of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) favour massive stars as their progenitors, which are likely to be surrounded by gas and dust. The visibility of the optical and UV emission of a GRB are expected to depend…
We study the chemical abundances of the interstellar medium surrounding high z gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) through analysis of the damped Lya systems (DLAs) identified in afterglow spectra. These GRB-DLAs are characterized by large HI column…
The afterglow of a gamma ray burst (GRB) can give us valuable insight into the properties of its host galaxy. To correctly interpret the spectra of the afterglow we need to have a good understanding of the foreground interstellar medium…
GRB 080607 has provided the first strong observational signatures of molecular absorption bands toward any galaxy hosting a gamma-ray burst. Despite the identification of dozens of features as belonging to various atomic and molecular (H_2…
Aims: With this paper we want to investigate the highly variable afterglow light curve and environment of gamma-ray burst (GRB) 060526 at $z=3.221$. Methods: We present one of the largest photometric datasets ever obtained for a GRB…
Gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows are powerful probes for studying the different properties of their host galaxies (e.g., the interstellar dust) at all redshifts. By fitting their spectral energy distribution (SED) over a large range of…
It appears that the majority of rapidly-, well-localized gamma-ray bursts with undetected, or dark, optical afterglows, or `dark bursts' for short, occur in clouds of size R > 10L_{49}^{1/2} pc and mass M > 3x10^5L_{49} M_{sun}, where L is…