Related papers: Beaming Selection and SN-GRB-Jets Evolution
The ejecta composition is an open question in gamma-ray bursts (GRB) physics. Some GRBs possess a quasi-thermal spectral component in the time-resolved spectral analysis, suggesting a hot fireball origin. Others show a featureless…
Context: Observations suggest that the major fraction of long duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are connected with broad-lines supernovae Ib/c, (SNe-Ibc). The presence of GRB-SNe is revealed by rebrightenings emerging from the optical GRB…
We report the best evidence to date of a jet break in a short Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) afterglow, using Chandra and Swift XRT observations of the X-ray afterglow of GRB 051221A. The combined X-ray light curve, which has three breaks, is…
It has been suggested that the peculiar properties of the luminous Type Ic supernova SN 1998bw and its low-energy gamma-ray burst GRB 980425 may be understood if they originated in a standard gamma-ray burst explosion viewed far from the…
Observations of several gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) that are temporally and spatially compatible with energetic supernovae (hypernovae) has established their common origin. In one case (GRB 111209A/SN 2011kl) the associated supernova was…
The observational diversity of ``gamma-ray bursts'' (GRBs) has been increasing, and the natural inclination is a proliferation of models. We explore the possibility that at least part of this diversity is a consequence of a single basic…
We use the very simple and successful Cannonball Model (CB) of gamma ray bursts (GRBs) and their afterglows (AGs) to analyze the observations of the strongly extinct optical AG of the relatively nearby GRB 011121, which were made with…
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…
Millisecond pulsars with strong magnetic fields may be formed through several processes, e.g. accretion-induced collapse of magnetized white dwarfs, merger of two neutron stars. During the birth of such a pulsar, an initial fireball…
Context: The link between the duration of GRBs and the nature of their progenitors remains disputed. Short bursts (with durations of less than ~2 s) are less frequently observed, technically more difficult to localize, and exhibit…
I discuss here the progress made in the last decade on few of the key open problems in GRB physics. These include: (1) the nature of GRB progenitors, and the outliers found to the collapsar/merger scenarios; (2) Jet structures, whose…
We discuss the possible connection between supernova explosions (SN) and gamma-ray bursters (GRB) from the perspective of our current understanding of SN physics. Recent evidence strongly suggests that the explosion mechanism of core…
GRBs have remained a puzzle for many high-energy astrophysicists since their discovery in 1967. With the advent of the X-ray satellites BeppoSAX and RossiXTE, it has been possible to carry out deep multi-wavelength observations of the…
In several GRBs afterglows, rapid temporal decay is observed which is inconsistent with spherical (isotropic) blast-wave models. In particular, GRB 980519 had the most rapidly fading of the well-documented GRB afterglows, with t^{-2.05\pm…
A GRB afterglow has been commonly thought to be due to continuous deceleration of a postburst fireball. Many analytical models have made simplifications for deceleration dynamics of the fireball and its radiation property, although they are…
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the most powerful explosions in the universe. How efficiently the jet converts its energy to radiation is a long-standing problem and it is poorly constrained. The standard model invokes a relativistic fireball…
We present late-time ($\delta t > 3000$ d) optical (Keck), X-ray (Chandra and NuSTAR), and radio (VLA, ALMA, and the uGMRT) observations of the Type Ic-BL SN 2012ap. Previous studies of this SN suggested that it stands out as a key example…
Observational manifestations of far evolved stars at the asymptotic giants branch and their nearest descendants are briefly considered. Main results of their chemical composition determinations based on long term high resolution…
The origin of short gamma-ray bursts (sGRBs) is associated with outflows powered by the remnant of a binary neutron star merger. This remnant can be either a black hole or a highly magnetized, fastly spinning neutron star, also known as a…
Recently, X-ray emission lines have been observed in X-ray afterglows of several $\gamma$-ray bursts. It is a major breakthrough for understanding the nature of the progenitors. It is proposed that the X-ray emission lines can be well…