Related papers: The Optical Afterglows of Gamma-Ray Bursts
Models of gamma ray bursts are reviewed in the light of recent observations of afterglows which point towards a cosmological origin. The physics of fireball shock models is discussed, with attention to the type of light histories and…
I will review the constraints set by X-ray measurements of afterglows on several issues of GRB, with particular regard to the fireball model, the environment, the progenitor and dark GRB.
Radio observations of gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows provide both complementary and unique diagnostics of the afterglow physics and environment of the burst. Here we concentrate on three unique aspects of GRB energetics and environments…
We discuss the evolution of cosmological gamma-ray burst remnants, consisting of the cooling and expanding fireball ejecta together with any swept-up external matter, after the gamma-ray event. We show that significant optical emission is…
The gamma ray burst phenomenon is reviewed from a theoretical point of view, with emphasis on the fireball shock scenario of the prompt emission and the longer wavelenght afterglow. Recent progress and issues are discussed, including…
Polarimetry of Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) afterglows in the last few years has been considered one of the most effective tool to probe the geometry, energetic, dynamics and the environment of GRBs. We report some of the most recent results and…
If gamma ray bursts are highly collimated, radiating into only a small fraction of the sky, the energy requirements of each event may be reduced by several (up to 4 - 6) orders of magnitude, and the event rate increased correspondingly. The…
The precise localization of short/hard (Type I) gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) in recent years has answered many questions but raised even more. I present some results of a systematic study of the optical afterglows of long/soft (Type II) and…
The discovery of X-ray, optical and radio afterglows of GRBs provides an important tool for understanding these sources. Most current models envisage GRB as arising in a cataclysmic stellar event leading to a relativistically expanding…
We calculate the radial surface brightness profile of the image of a Gamma-Ray-Burst (GRB) afterglow. The afterglow spectrum consists of several power-law segments separated by breaks. The image profile changes considerably across each of…
Radio afterglow studies have become an integral part of the study of gamma-ray bursts, providing complementary and sometimes unique diagnostics on GRB explosions, their progenitors, and their environments. This brief review consists of two…
The energy requirements of gamma ray bursts have in past been poorly constrained because of three major uncertainties: The distances to bursts, the degree of burst beaming, and the efficiency of gamma ray production. The first of these has…
Gamma ray burst afterglows can be identified in single epoch observations using three or more optical filters. This method relies on color measurements to distinguish the power law spectrum of an afterglow from the curved spectra of stars.…
Major advances have been made in the field of gamma-ray bursts in the last two years. The successful discovery of X-ray, optical and radio afterglows, which were predicted by theory, has made possible the identification of host galaxies at…
The successful discovery of X-ray, optical and radio afterglows of gamma-ray bursts has significantly helped our understanding of these sources, and made possible the identification of host galaxies at cosmological distances. The energy…
The luminosities of the optical afterglows of Gamma Ray Bursts, 12 hours (rest frame time) after the trigger, show a surprising clustering, with a minority of events being at a significant smaller luminosity. If real, this dichotomy would…
It is by now fairly well established that gamma-ray burst afterglows result from initially relativistic outflows interacting with the medium surrounding the burster and emitting non-thermal radiation ranging from radio to X-rays. However,…
Observations and models of GRBs are reviewed with an emphasis on the early phase of the burst. Recent revision of the early afterglow model is described.
The popular fireball/blastwave model of classical gamma-ray bursts is applied to soft gamma-ray bursts. It is found that X-ray afterglows from strong events may be above their quiescent levels for 40 -- 400 seconds. Optical afterglows may…
A review is given on the various aspects of gamma-ray burst afterglow observations, and the inferences derived from the data. After a short history of optical transient search and the BeppoSAX discoveries, the main topics included are…