Related papers: The difficulty in using orphan afterglows to measu…
We present broadband (radio, optical, and X-ray) light curves and spectra of the afterglows of four long-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs 090323, 090328, 090902B, and 090926A) detected by the Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor (GBM) and Large Area…
Direct multi-dimensional numerical simulation is the most reliable approach for calculating the fluid dynamics and observational signatures of relativistic jets in gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). We present a two-dimensional relativistic…
We obtained 98 R-band and 18 B, r', i' images of the optical afterglow of GRB 060526 (z=3.21) with the MDM 1.3m, 2.4m, and the PROMPT telescopes in Cerro Tololo over the 5 nights following the burst trigger. Combining these data with other…
We report on follow-up observations of the GRB 060927 using the ROTSE-IIIa telescope and a suite of larger aperture ground-based telescopes. An optical afterglow was detected 20 s after the burst, the earliest rest-frame detection of…
Radio observations of gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows are essential for our understanding of the physics of relativistic blast waves, as they enable us to follow the evolution of GRB explosions much longer than the afterglows in any other…
[Abridged] A number of phenomena have been observed in GRB afterglows that defy explanation by simple versions of the standard fireball model, leading to a variety of new models. Polarimetry can be a major independent diagnostic of…
We report on the photometric, spectroscopic and polarimetric, monitoring of the optical afterglow of Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) 030328 detected by HETE-2. Photometry, collected at 7 different telescopes, shows that a smoothly broken powerlaw…
Taylor et al. (2004) reported recently on the first direct measurement of the apparent size of a GRB afterglow. Here we confront these observations with the predictions of the fireball model. We use a simple model to study numerically the…
We present the first statistical analysis of 27 UVOT optical/ultra-violet lightcurves of GRB afterglows. We have found, through analysis of the lightcurves in the observer's frame, that a significant fraction rise in the first 500s after…
Starting as highly relativistic collimated jets, gamma-ray burst outflows gradually decelerate and become non-relativistic spherical blast waves. Although detailed analytical solutions describing the afterglow emission received by an…
We review interaction models for GRB afterglows, with an eye on constraining the nature of their progenitors and the geometry of explosion. Evidence is presented for two types of progenitors. The radio afterglow of GRB 980425/SN 1998bw and…
We propose a new method for the classification of optically dark gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), based on the X-ray and optical-to-X-ray spectral indices of GRB afterglows, and utilizing the spectral capabilities of Swift. This method depends less…
The multi-messenger observation of gamma-ray burst (GRB)\,170817A from the nearby binary neutron-star merger GW170817 demonstrated that low-energy $\gamma$-ray emission can be observed at relatively large angles from GRB jet axes. If such…
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the most luminous transients in the universe and are utilized as probes of early stars, gravitational wave counterparts, and collisionless shock physics. In spite of studies on polarimetry of GRBs in individual…
We investigate the expected radio emission from the reverse shock of short GRBs, using the afterglow parameters derived from the observed short GRB light curves. In light of recent results suggesting that in some cases the radio afterglow…
Ultrarelativistic gamma-ray burst (GRB) jets are strong gravitational wave (GW) sources with memory-type signals. The plateau (or shallow decay) phases driven by the energy injection might appear in the early X-ray afterglows of GRBs. In…
Gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglow observations have allowed us to significantly constrain the engines producing these energetic explosions. Te redshift and position information provided by these afterglows have already allowed us to limit the…
Radio observations of gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows are essential for our understanding of the physics of relativistic blast waves, as they enable us to follow the evolution of GRB explosions much longer than the afterglows in any other…
The degree of beaming in Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) is currently unknown. The uncertainty in the gamma-ray beaming angle, theta, leaves the total energy release (proportional to theta^2) and the event rate per galaxy (proportional to…
Long gamma ray bursts (GRBs) are produced by the collapse of some very massive stars, which emit ultra-relativistic jets. When the jets collide with the interstellar medium they decelerate and generate the so-called afterglow emission,…