Related papers: Theoretical interpretation of "long" and "short" G…
Despite a rich phenomenology, gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are divided into two classes based on their duration and spectral hardness -- the long-soft and the short-hard bursts. The discovery of afterglow emission from long GRBs was a watershed…
It is widely believed that multiwavelength afterglows of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) originate from relativistic blast waves. We here show that in such blast waves, a significant fraction of the energy of shock-accelerated protons would be lost…
We present an analysis of the unusual optical light curve of the gamma-ray burst GRB 081029, a long-soft burst with a redshift of z = 3.8479. We combine X-ray and optical observations from the Swift X-Ray Telescope and the Swift…
We systematically reanalyzed all Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) afterglow data published through the end of 2002, in an attempt to detect the predicted supernova light component and to gain statistical insight on its phenomenological properties. We…
A theoretical attempt to identify the physical process responsible for the afterglow emission of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) is presented, leading to the occurrence of thermal emission in the comoving frame of the shock wave giving rise to the…
The present common view about GRB origin is related to cosmology. There are two evidences in favour of this interpretation. The first is connected with statistics, the second is based on measurements of the redshifts in the GRB optical…
If the efficiency for producing $\gamma$-rays is the same in short duration ($\siml 2$ s) Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) as in long duration GRBs, then the average kinetic energy of short GRBs must be $\sim 20$ times less than that of long GRBs.…
The successful discovery of X-ray, optical and radio afterglows of GRB has made possible the identification of host galaxies at cosmological distances. The energy release inferred in these outbursts place them among the most energetic and…
GRB 090510, observed both by Fermi and AGILE satellites, is the first bright short-hard Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) with an emission from the keV up to the GeV energy range. Within the Fireshell model, we interpret the faint precursor in the…
There is increasingly strong evidence that gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are associated with star-forming galaxies, and occur near or in the star-forming regions of these galaxies. These associations provide indirect evidence that at least the…
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), associated with the collapse of massive stars or the collisions of compact objects, are the most luminous events in our universe. However, there is still much to learn about the nature of the relativistic jets…
Gamma-ray bursts and their afterglows are thought to be produced by an ultrarelativistic jet. One of the most important open questions is the outflow composition: the energy may be carried out from the central source either as kinetic…
We present observations of the early X-ray emission for a sample of 40 gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) obtained using the Swift satellite for which the narrow-field instruments were pointed at the burst within 10 minutes of the trigger. Using data…
Lasting anywhere from a few milliseconds to several minutes, GRBs shine hundreds of times brighter than a typical supernova, making them briefly the brightest source of cosmic gamma-ray photons in the observable Universe. This thesis…
Synchrotron and inverse Compton emission successfully explain the observed spectra of gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows. It is thought that most GRBs are products of extremely relativistic outflows and the afterglow marks the interaction of…
A possible unified model of short and long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), X-ray rich GRBs, and X-ray flashes is proposed. It is assumed that the jet of a GRB consists of many emitting sub-shells (i.e., an inhomogeneous jet model). The…
Long-lasting emission of short gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) is crucial to reveal the physical origin of the central engine as well as to detect electromagnetic (EM) counterparts to gravitational waves (GWs) from neutron star binary mergers. We…
We aim to investigate the ability of simple spectral models to describe the GRB early afterglow emission. We performed a time resolved spectral analysis of a bright GRB sample detected by the Swift Burst Alert Telescope and promptly…
The optical light-curves of GRB afterglows display either peaks or plateaus. We identify 16 afterglows of the former type, 17 of the latter, and 4 with broad peaks, that could be of either type. The optical energy release of these two…
The exact profile of a gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglow image on the plane of the sky can provide important constraints on the underlying physics. In particular, it can test whether the magnetic field in the emitting shocked external medium…