Related papers: Sub-photospheric shocks in relativistic explosions
Photospheric emission may originate from relativistic outflows in two qualitatively different regimes:\ last scattering of photons inside the outflow at the photospheric radius, or radiative diffusion to the boundary of the outflow. In this…
Among the models used to explain the prompt emission of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), internal shocks is a leading one. Its most basic ingredient is a collision between two cold shells of different Lorentz factors in an ultra-relativistic…
We consider the emission of photons from the inner parts of a relativistically expanding plasma outflow, characterized by a constant Lorentz factor, Gamma. Photons that are injected in regions of high optical depth are advected with the…
Particle acceleration in collisionless shocks is believed to be responsible for the production of cosmic-rays over a wide range of energies, from few GeV to >10^{20}eV, as well as for the non-thermal emission of radiation from a wide…
According to the collapsar model, gamma-ray bursts are thought to be produced in shocks that occur after the relativistic jet has broken free from the stellar envelope. If the mass density of the collimated outflow is less than that of the…
Relativistic sources, e.g. gamma-ray bursts, pulsar wind nebulae and powerful active galactic nuclei produce relativistic outflows that lead to the formation of collisionless shock waves, where particle acceleration is thought to take…
In this work, we investigate collisionless shocks propagating in a relativistically hot unmagnetized electron-positron plasmas. We estimate the dissipation fraction at shocks in the relativistically hot plasma, showing that it is…
A new theory for gamma-ray burst radiation is presented. In this theory, magnetic fields and relativistic electrons are created through plasma processes arising as a relativistic shell passes through the interstellar medium. The gamma-rays…
The prompt emission of gamma-ray bursts probably comes from a highly relativistic wind which converts part of its kinetic energy into radiation via the formation of shocks within the wind itself. Such "internal shocks" can occur if the wind…
The structure of relativistic radiation mediated shocks (RRMS) propagating into a cold electron-proton plasma is calculated and analyzed. A qualitative discussion of the physics of relativistic and non relativistic shocks, including order…
What are the mechanisms of particle acceleration and radiation, as well as magnetic field build up and decay in relativistic shocks are open questions with important implications to various phenomena in high energy astrophysics. While the…
We present the first ab initio simulation of a radiation-mediated shock emerging at the photosphere of a relativistic outflow. The simulation is performed using our code radshock that follows fluid dynamics coupled to time-dependent…
Fast shocks that form in optically thick media are mediated by Compton scattering and, if relativistic, pair creation. Since the radiation force acts primarily on electrons and positrons, the question arises of how the force is mediated to…
The prompt emission of gamma-ray bursts (hereafter GRBs) probably comes from a highly relativistic wind which converts its kinetic energy into radiation via the formation of shocks within the wind itself. Such "internal shocks" can occur if…
Collisionless shocks in plasmas play an important role in space physics (Earth's bow shock) and astrophysics (supernova remnants, relativistic jets, gamma-ray bursts, high energy cosmic rays). While the formation of a fluid shock through…
Radiation mediated shocks (RMS) play a key role in shaping the early emission observed in many transients. In most cases, e.g., shock breakout in supernovae, llGRBs and neutron star mergers, the upstream plasma is devoid of radiation, and…
We propose a theoretical explanation of absorption/emission line systems in classical novae based on a fully self-consistent nova explosion model. We found that a reverse shock is formed far outside the photosphere ($\gtrsim 10^{13}$ cm)…
We show that a collisionless shock necessarily forms during the shock breakout of a supernova (SN) surrounded by an optically thick wind. An intense non-thermal flash of <~ MeV gamma rays, hard X-rays and multi-TeV neutrinos is produced…
The absorption of a high-energy photon from the external cosmic gamma-ray background in the inner neutron star magnetosphere triggers the generation of a secondary electron-positron plasma and gives rise to a lightning - a lengthening and…
Unsteady activity of gamma-ray burst sources leads to internal shocks in their emergent relativistic wind. We study the emission spectra from such shocks, assuming that they produce a power-law distribution of relativistic electrons and…