Related papers: Gamma-Ray Bursts: Jets and Energetics
A pedagogical derivation is presented of the ``fireball'' model of gamma-ray bursts, according to which the observable effects are due to the dissipation of the kinetic energy of a relativistically expanding wind, a ``fireball.'' The main…
Relativistic jets are one of the most powerful manifestations of the release of energy related to the supermassive black holes at the centre of active galactic nuclei (AGN). Their emission is observed across the entire electromagnetic…
The various stages of baryonic gamma-ray burst afterglow blast waves are reviewed. These are responsible for the afterglow emission from which much of our understanding of gamma-ray bursts derives. Initially, the blast waves are confined to…
Present knowledge indicates that gamma-ray bursts are linked with massive stars. They will become invaluable probes of the early universe and galaxy formation. In the future, it will be possible to use gamma-ray bursts for two purposes: 1)…
I outline a unified model of high-energy astrophysics, in which the gamma background radiation, cluster "cooling flows", gamma-ray bursts, X-ray flashes and cosmic-ray electrons and nuclei of all energies -share a common origin. The…
The supermassive black holes harboured in active galactic nuclei are at the origin of powerful jets which can emit copious amounts of gamma-rays. The exact interplay between the infalling matter, the black hole and the relativistic outflow…
Observations of gamma-ray-bursts and jets from active galactic nuclei reveal that the jet flow is characterized by a high radiative efficiency and that the dissipative mechanism must be a powerful accelerator of non-thermal particles.…
Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) are the strongest explosions in the Universe, which due to their extreme character likely involve some of the strongest magnetic fields in nature. This review discusses the possible roles of magnetic fields in GRBs,…
Leading models for the "central engine" of long, soft gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are briefly reviewed with emphasis on the collapsar model. Growing evidence supports the hypothesis that GRBs are a supernova-like phenomenon occurring in star…
Whether gamma-ray bursts are highly beamed or not is a very difficult but important problem that we are confronted with. Some theorists suggest that beaming effect usually leads to a sharp break in the afterglow light curve during the…
The energy release in gamma-ray bursts is one of the most interesting clues on the nature of their "inner engines". We show here that the total energy release in GRBs varies by less than one order of magnitude from one burst to another…
Long duration gamma-ray bursts (GRB) are at cosmological distance, they appear to be located near star forming regions, and are likely associated with some type of supernovae. They are also likely to be strongly beamed, which lowers their…
We propose a gamma-ray burst scenario involving relativistic jets dominated by Poynting flux with alternating toroidal magnetic fields. Such a structure may arise naturally if the jet is formed and powered by the accretion flow in the core…
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the most luminous electromagnetic explosions in the Universe, which emit up to $8.8\times10^{54}$ erg isotropic equivalent energy in the hard X-ray band. The high luminosity makes them detectable out to the…
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are a mixed class of sources consisting of, at least, the long duration and short-hard subclasses, the X-ray flashes, and the low-luminosity GRBs. In all cases, the release of enormous amounts of energy on a short…
Jets, collimated outflows of particles and fields, are observed in a wide variety of astrophysical systems, including Active Galactic Nuclei of various types, microquasars, gamma-ray bursts, and young stellar objects. Despite intensive…
We propose that the gravitational collapse of supermassive objects ($ M\ga 10^4 M_\odot$), either as relativistic star clusters or as single supermassive stars (which may result from stellar mergers in dense star clusters), could be a…
Gamma-ray bursts are transient events from beyond the solar system. Besides the allure of their mysterious origin, bursts are physically fascinating because they undoubtedly require exotic physics. Optical transients coincident with burst…
Gamma-ray bursts are most luminous explosions in the universe. Their ejecta are believed to move towards Earth with a relativistic speed. The interaction between this "relativistic jet" and a circum burst medium drives a pair of (forward…
The possibility that gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) were not isotropic emissions was devised theoretically as a way to ameliorate the huge energetic budget implied by the standard fireball model for these powerful phenomena. However, the mechanism…