Related papers: Ultra Efficient Internal Shocks
In many models of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) relativistic shells are responsible for the overall envelope of emission. We use kinematics and symmetry to calculate the time history and spectral evolution expected from a relativistic shell…
We show that, contrary to common belief, internal shocks can arise in an accelerating radiation-dominated jet if it is confined even weakly to a converging opening angle because the acceleration declines. The radiation-dominated internal…
It is proposed that the gamma ray burst photons near the peak of the spectrum at several hundred KeV are produced on very compact scales, where photon production is limited by blackbody effects and/or the requirement of energetic quanta…
The discovery by Swift that a good fraction of Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) have a slowly decaying X-ray afterglow phase led to the suggestion that energy injection into the blast wave takes place several hundred seconds after the burst. This…
We review the observational differences between gamma-ray bursts occurring on a single shell (such as in the external shock model) and multiple shells (such as in the internal shock model). We do not argue against external shocks or for…
Eleven bright gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) detected by BATSE have also been seen at much higher energies by EGRET, six at energies above 10 MeV. Such observations imply that these bursts are optically thin to photon-photon pair production at all…
In the popular internal shock model for the prompt emission of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), collisions between a series of relativistic shells generate lots of paired forward and reverse shocks. We show that the synchrotron emission produced by…
Gamma-ray bursts and ultra-high-energy cosmic rays provide an important testing ground for fundamental physics. A simple-minded analysis of some gamma-ray bursts would lead to a huge estimate of the overall energy emitted, and this…
We simulate the dynamics of the interaction between relativistically expanding spherically symmetric shells using a 1-dimensional hydrodynamic code and calculate spectra and light-curves arising from such collisions by integrating the…
If gamma ray bursts are highly collimated, the energy requirements of each event may be reduced by several (~ 4-6) orders of magnitude, and the event rate increased correspondingly. Extreme conditions in gamma ray bursters lead to highly…
We describe our attempt to determine if gamma-ray burst (GRB) and afterglow emissions could both arise in external shocks for simple GRBs--bursts consisting of just a few peaks in their lightcurves. We calculate peak flux and peak frequency…
Structure formation in the intergalactic medium (IGM) produces large-scale, collisionless shock waves, where electrons can accelerate to highly relativistic energies. Such electrons can Compton scatter cosmic microwave background photons up…
We show that if the intrinsic break energy of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) is determined by the product of more than three random variables the observed break energy distribution becomes almost lognormal including the redshift effect because of…
The distribution of the apparent total energy emitted by a gamma-ray burst reflects not only the distribution of the energy actually released by the burst engine, but also the distribution of beaming angles. Using the observed energy…
The primary dissipation mechanism in jets of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), and the high efficiency of the prompt emission are long standing issues. One possibility is strong collimation of a weakly magnetized relativistic jet by the surrounding…
We calculate the spectra expected from unsteady relativistic wind models of gamma-ray bursts, suitable for events of arbitrary duration. The spectral energy distribution of the burst is calculated over photon energies spanning from eV to…
Astrophysical sources of relativistic jets or outflows, such as gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), active galactic nuclei (AGN) or micro-quasars, often show strong time variability. Despite such impulsive behavior, most models of these sources assume…
We study the dynamics of relativistic electromagnetic explosions as a possible mechanism for the production of Gamma-Ray Bursts. We propose that a rotating relativistic stellar-mass progenitor loses much of its spin energy in the form of an…
The variability observed in many complex gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) is inconsistent with causally connected variations in a single, symmetric, relativistic shell interacting with the ambient material ("external shocks"). Rather, the symmetry…
Gamma ray bursts are among the most energetic events in the known universe. A highly relativistic fireball is ejected. In most cases the burst itself is followed by an afterglow, emitted under deceleration as the fireball plunges through…