Related papers: Understanding Gamma-ray Burst Jet Structures from …
We investigate how the angular structure of GRB jets effects the afterglow light curves at different viewing angles, $\theta_{v}$, from the jet symmetry axis. A numerical hydrodynamical modeling for the evolution of a relativistic…
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…
Gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows are likely produced in the shock that is driven as the GRB jet interacts with the external medium. Long-duration GRBs are also associated with powerful supernovae (SNe). We consider the optical and radio…
Relativistic jets launched in binary neutron star (BNS) mergers are widely accepted as the engines powering most of the population of short gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Understanding their structure and dynamics-particularly during and after…
The successful launch and operation of NASA's Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Explorer open a new era for the multi-wavelength study of the very early afterglow phase of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). GRB early afterglow information is essential to explore…
For a few seconds a gamma-ray burst (GRB) becomes the brightest object in the Universe, over-shining the rest of the Universe combined! Clearly this reflects extreme conditions that are fascinating and worth exploring. The recent discovery…
The optical light that is generated simultaneously with the x-rays and gamma-rays during a gamma-ray burst (GRB) provides clues about the nature of the explosions that occur as massive stars collapse to form black holes. We report on the…
GRB afterglow jets have been notoriously difficult to resolve numerically using 2D hydrodynamical simulations due to high outflow Lorentz factors. By performing simulations in a boosted frame, it is possible to calculate light curves from…
We numerically compute light and polarisation curves of gamma-ray burst afterglows for various configurations of the jet luminosity structure and for different dynamical evolutions. We especially consider the standard homogeneous ``top…
We calculate the magnification light curves due to stellar microlensing of gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows. A GRB source appears on the sky as a thin ring which expands faster than the speed of light and is maximally magnified as it…
Whether gamma-ray bursts are highly beamed or not is a very important question, since it has been pointed out that the beaming will lead to a sharp break in the afterglow light curves during the ultra-relativistic phase, with the breaking…
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 discuss jet dynamics for narrow and wide gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglow jets and the observational implications of numerical simulations of relativistic jets in two dimensions. We confirm earlier numerical results that sideways…
The afterglow of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) has been extensively discussed in the context of shocks generated during an interaction of relativistic outflows with their ambient medium. This process leads to the formation of both a forward and a…
Long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), which signify the end-life collapsing of very massive stars, are produced by extremely relativistic jets colliding into circumstellar medium. Huge energy is released both in the first few seconds, namely the…
There are several lines of evidence which suggest that the relativistic outflows in gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are collimated into narrow jets. The jet structure has important implications for the true energy release and the event rate of…
It is now generally accepted that long-duration gamma ray bursts (GRBs) are due to the collapse of massive rotating stars. The precise collapse process itself, however, is not yet fully understood. Strong winds, outbursts, and intense…
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…
Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs), short and intense pulses of low energy gamma-rays, have fascinated astronomers and astrophysicists since their unexpected discovery in the late sixties. During the last decade, several space missions: BATSE (Burst…
Gamma-ray bursts are flashes of high-energy radiation lasting from a fraction of a second to several hours. Military satellites made the first detections of GRBs in the late 1960s. The $\gamma$-ray emission forms from shocks in a…