Related papers: Gamma-ray bursts from alternating-current jets
A model to explain variable gamma-ray sources with high-mass microblazars is described. Inverse Compton interactions between the jet of a microquasar and the UV-photon field of the stellar companion can produce high-energy gamma-rays. The…
I argue that cosmic Gamma-ray Bursts (GRB) may be produced by collapses or mergers of stars made of `mirror' matter. The mirror neutrinos (which are sterile for our matter) produced at these events can oscillate into ordinary neutrinos. The…
Recent gamma-ray burst observations have revealed late-time, highly energetic events which deviate from the simplest expectations of the standard fireball picture. Instead they may indicate that the central engine is active or restarted at…
We consider the conditions under which a rotating magnetic object can produce a magnetically powered outflow in an initially unmagnetized medium stratified under gravity. 3D MHD simulations are presented in which the footpoints of…
Gamma-ray data from Fermi-LAT reveal a bi-lobular structure extending up to 50 degrees above and below the galactic centre, which presumably originated in some form of energy release there less than a few million years ago. It has been…
Jets in long-duration $\gamma$-ray bursts (GRBs) have to drill through the collapsing star in order to break out of it and produce the $\gamma$-ray signal while the central engine is still active. If the breakout time is shorter for more…
The evolution of the particle distribution functions inside a relativistic jet containing an e^-e^+ pair plasma and of the resulting $\gamma$-ray and X-ray spectra is investigated. The first phase of this evolution is governed by heavy…
The extragalactic gamma-ray sky is dominated by two classes of sources: Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) and radio loud active galactic nuclei whose jets are pointing at us (blazars). We believe that the radiation we receive from them originates…
Regardless of their different types of progenitors and central engines, gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) were always assumed to be standalone systems after they formed. Little attention has been paid to the possibility that a stellar companion can…
An electron irradiated by a linearly polarized relativistic intensity laser pulse in a cylindrical plasma channel can gain significant energy from the pulse. The laser electric and magnetic fields drive electron oscillations in a plane…
We present results from axisymmetric, time-dependent magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of the collapsar model for gamma-ray bursts. Our main conclusion is that, within the collapsar model, MHD effects alone are able to launch,…
Long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are commonly accepted to originate in the explosion of particularly massive stars, which gives rise to a highly relativistic jet. Internal inhomogeneities in the expanding flow give rise to internal shock waves…
A hyperaccretion disk formed around a stellar mass black hole is a plausible model for the central engine that powers gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). If the central black hole rotates and a poloidal magnetic field threads its horizon, a powerful…
The dissipation of energy flux in blazar jets plays a key role in the acceleration of relativistic particles. Two possibilities are commonly considered for the dissipation processes, magnetic reconnection -- possibly triggered by…
In a strong magnetic field, B > 4x10^{12} G, gamma-rays emitted nearly along curved field lines adiabatically convert into bound electron-positron pairs (positronium atoms) rather that decaying into free pairs. This process may modify the…
Merging binaries of compact relativistic objects (neutron stars and black holes) are thought to be progenitors of short gamma-ray bursts and sources of gravitational waves, hence their study is of great importance for astrophysics. Because…
Blazars are highly variable active galactic nuclei which emit radiation at all wavelengths from radio to gamma-rays. Polarized radiation from blazars is one key piece of evidence for synchrotron radiation at low energies and it also varies…
Soft X-ray flares were detected to follow the short-duration gamma-ray burst GRB 050724. The temporal properties of the flares suggest that they are likely due to the late time activity of the central engine. We argue that if short GRBs are…
(Abridged) We consider the interaction of a relativistically-moving shell, composed of thermal photons, a reversing magnetic field and a small admixture of charged particles, with a dense Wolf-Rayet wind. A thin outer layer of Wolf-Rayet…
Relativistic jets associated with long/soft gamma-ray bursts are formed and initially propagate in the interior of the progenitor star. Because of the subsequent loss of their external pressure support after they cross the stellar surface,…