Related papers: Supercollapsars and their X-ray Bursts
A black hole can launch a powerful relativistic jet after it tidally disrupts a star. If this jet fortuitously aligns with our line of sight, the overall brightness is Doppler boosted by several orders of magnitude. Consequently, such…
Shock breakout emission is light that arises when a shockwave, generated by core-collapse explosion of a massive star, passes through its outer envelope. Hitherto, the earliest detection of such a signal was at several hours after the…
When a massive star ends its life, its core collapses, forming a neutron star or black hole and producing some of the most energetic explosions in the universe. Core-collapse supernovae and long-duration gamma-ray bursts are the violent…
In this contribution I summarize our current knowledge of the nature and significance of starburst-driven galactic superwinds. These flows are driven primarily by the kinetic energy supplied by supernovae. Superwinds are complex, multiphase…
The first bound star-forming systems in the universe are predicted to form at redshifts of about 30 and to have masses of the order of 10^6 M_sun. Although their sizes and masses are similar to those of present star-forming regions, their…
The polarization of core-collapse supernovae shows that many if not all of these explosions must be strongly bi-polar. The most obvious way to produce this axial symmetry is by the imposition of a jet as an intrinsic part of the explosion…
Long $\rm \gamma$-ray bursts (GRBs) are produced by the dissipation of ultra-relativistic jets launched by newly-born black holes after the collapse of massive stars. Right after the luminous and highly variable $\gamma$-ray emission, the…
In this contribution I summarize our current knowledge of the nature and significance of starburst-driven galactic winds (``superwinds''). Superwinds are complex multiphase outflows of cool, warm, and hot gas, dust, and magnetized…
One of the most dramatic possible consequences of stellar rotation is its influence on stellar death, particularly of massive stars. If the angular momentum of the iron core when it collapses is such as to produce a neutron star with a…
I discuss the observational evidence that starburst galaxies are able to drive galactic-scale outflows ("superwinds") and then argue generally that superwinds must have had an important role in galaxy evolution. To explore the role of…
The first billion years in the evolution of the Universe mark the formation of the first stars, black holes and galaxies. The radiation from the first galaxies plays an important role in determining the final state of primordial gas…
Observational evidence suggests that some very large supermassive black holes (SMBHs) already existed less than 1 Gyr after the Big Bang. Explaining the formation and growth of the 'seeds' of these SMBHs is quite challenging. We explore the…
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are among the most energetic events in the universe, driven by relativistic jets launched from black holes (BHs) formed during the collapse of massive stars or after the merger of two neutron stars (NSs). The jet…
The gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) of long duration are very likely to be connected to the death of massive stars. The gamma-ray emission is believed to come from energy released internally in a flow that moves at ultrarelativistic speed. The fast…
The non-thermal emission in the magnetospheres of presupernova collapsing stars with initial dipole magnetic fields and a certain initial energy distribution of the charged particles in a magnetosphere is considered. The analysis of…
The first galaxies formed at high redshifts, and were likely substantially less massive than typical galaxies in the local universe. We argue that (1) the reionization of a clumpy intergalactic medium by redshift z=6, (2) its enrichment by…
We demonstrate that the steep decay and long plateau in the early phases of gamma ray burst (GRB) X-ray afterglows are naturally produced in the collapsar model, by a means ultimately related to the dynamics of relativistic jet propagation…
Leading models for the "central engine" of long, soft gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are briefly reviewed with emphasis on the collapsar model. Growing evidence supports the hypothesis that GRBs are a supernova-like phenomenon occurring in star…
The origin of Gamma-Ray Bursts is one of the most interesting puzzles in recent astronomy. During the last decade a consensus formed that long GRBs (LGRBs) arise from the collapse of massive stars and that short GRBs (SGRBs) have a…
We present our numerical results of two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of the collapse of rotating massive stars in light of the collapsar model of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Pushed by recent evolution calculations of GRB…