Related papers: Long Gamma-Ray Transients from Collapsars
Long and short gamma-ray bursts are traditionally associated with galactic environments, where circumburst densities are small or moderate (few to hundreds of protons per cubic cm). However, both are also expected to occur in the disks of…
I consider various possibilities for making gamma--ray bursts, particularly from close binaries. In addition to the much--studied neutron star + neutron star and black hole + neutron star cases usually considered good candidates for…
The discovery of long-lasting (~100 s) X-ray flares following short gamma-ray bursts initially called into question whether they were truly classical short-hard bursts. Opinion over the last few years has coalesced around the view that the…
We perform 3+1 general relativistic simulations of rotating core collapse in the context of the collapsar model for long gamma-ray bursts. We employ a realistic progenitor, rotation based on results of stellar evolution calculations, and a…
To understand the formation of stars from clouds of molecular gas, one essentially needs to know two things: What gas collapses, and how long it takes to do so. We address these questions by embedding pseudo-Lagrangian tracer particles in…
We propose that the gravitational collapse of supermassive objects ($ M\ga 10^4 M_\odot$), either as relativistic star clusters or as single supermassive stars (which may result from stellar mergers in dense star clusters), could be a…
During supernova explosions, strange stars with almost bare quark surfaces may be formed. Under certain conditions, these stars could be rapidly spun down by the torque exerted by the fossil disks formed from the fall-back materials. They…
The observed association of Long Gamma-Ray Bursts (LGRBs) with peculiar Type Ic supernovae gives support to Woosley`s collapsar/hypernova model, in which the GRB is produced by the collapse of the rapidly rotating core of a massive star to…
The collapse of massive rotating stellar cores and the associated accretion onto the newborn compact object is thought to power long gamma ray bursts (GRBs). The physical scale and dynamics of the accretion disk are initially set by the…
Long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have been linked to extreme core-collapse supernovae from massive stars. Gravitational waves (GW) offer a probe of the physics behind long GRBs. We investigate models of long-lived (~10-1000s) GW emission…
We investigate nucleosynthesis inside the gamma-ray burst (GRB) accretion disks formed by the Type II collapsars. In these collapsars, the core collapse of massive stars first leads to the formation of a proto-neutron star and a mild…
We calculate the rate of in-fall of stellar matter on an accretion disk during the collapse of a rapidly rotating massive star, and estimate the luminosity of the relativistic jet that results from accretion on to the central black hole. We…
The production of elements by rapid neutron capture (r-process) in neutron-star mergers is expected theoretically and is supported by multimessenger observations of gravitational-wave event GW170817: this production route is in principle…
The core collapse of rapidly rotating massive ~10 Msun stars ("collapsars"), and resulting formation of hyper-accreting black holes, are a leading model for the central engines of long-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRB) and promising sources…
Early-time X-ray observations of GRBs with the Swift satellite have revealed a more complicated phenomenology than was known before. In particular, the presence of flaring activity on a wide range of time scales probably requires late-time…
The current generation of millimeter interferometers have revealed a population of compact (r <~ 0.1 pc), massive (M ~ 100 Msun) gas cores that are the likely progenitors of massive stars. I review models for the evolution of these objects…
According the Collapsar model long gamma-ray bursts (LGRBs) involve relativistic jets that puncture the envelope of a collapsing star, and produced the \gamma-rays after they break out. This model provides a theoretical framework for the…
Cosmic gamma-ray bursts are one of the great frontiers of astrophysics today. They are a playground of relativists and observers alike. They may teach us about the death of stars and the birth of black holes, the physics in extreme…
(Abridged) We interpret gamma ray bursts as relativistic, electromagnetic explosions. Specifically, we propose that they are created when a rotating, relativistic, stellar-mass progenitor loses much of its rotational energy in the form of a…
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are violent explosions, coming from cosmological distances. They are detected in gamma-rays (also X-rays, UV, optical, radio) almost every day, and have typical durations of a few seconds to a few minutes. Some GRBs…