Related papers: Collisionless Plasma Shocks. Field Generation and …
Recent analytical and numerical work argue that successful relativistic Fermi acceleration requires a weak magnetization of the unshocked plasma, all the more so at high Lorentz factors. The present paper tests this conclusion by computing…
Gamma-ray bursts with long durations are widely thought to arise from the collapse of massive stars, where the wind environment is unavoidable. It is also believed that $\gamma$-ray bursts come from jets. Considering these two points in…
We provide a comprehensive review of major developments in our understanding of gamma-ray bursts, with particular focus on the discoveries made within the last fifteen years when their true nature was uncovered. We describe the…
Assuming an adiabatic evolution of a gamma-ray burst (GRB) fireball interacting with an external medium, we calculate the hydrodynamics of the fireball with energy injection from a strongly magnetic millisecond pulsar through magnetic…
The standard model of Gamma-Ray Bursts afterglows is based on synchrotron radiation from a blast wave produced when the relativistic ejecta encounters the surrounding medium. We reanalyze the refreshed shock scenario, in which slower…
The optical afterglows of gamma-ray bursts can be used to probe the physics, geometry, and environments of gamma-ray bursts. In this article I discuss the how spectra and photometry can be used to constrain fireball parameters, describe…
Recent observations suggest that gamma ray bursts (GRBs) and their afterglows are produced by highly relativistic jets emitted in supernova explosions. We have proposed that the result of the event is not just a compact object plus the…
We present evidence that relativistic shocks propagating in unmagnetized plasmas can self-consistently accelerate particles. We use long-term two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations to study the well-developed shock structure in…
Gamma-ray bursts are violent events occurring randomly in the sky. In this review, I will present the fireball model, proposed to explain the phenomenon of gamma-ray bursts. This model has important consequences for the production and…
According to the fireball model gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows are the result of a shock pushed into the surrounding medium by an extremely relativistic outflow from the GRB. By modeling the broadband spectrum, ranging from X-ray to radio…
We calculate both analytically and numerically the evolution of a highly relativistic fireball through the stages of free expansion and coasting, and determine the dependence of the thermodynamic and radiation variables in the comoving and…
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the most powerful explosions in the universe. How efficiently the jet converts its energy to radiation is a long-standing problem and it is poorly constrained. The standard model invokes a relativistic fireball…
Gamma-ray burst astronomy has undergone a revolution in the last three years, spurred by the discovery of fading long-wavelength counterparts. We now know that at least the long duration GRBs lie at cosmological distances with estimated…
The bipolarity of Supernova 1987A can be understood in terms of its very early light curve as observed from the CTIO 0.4-m telescope, as well as the IUE FES, and the slightly later speckle observations of the "Mystery Spot" by two groups.…
Energetic astrophysical phenomena, such as $\gamma$-ray bursts, supernova explosions, and magnetar flares occur in collisionless plasmas and involve various plasma kinetic and magnetohydrodynamic instabilities. In this paper, we explore the…
The onset and evolution of magnetic fields in laboratory and astrophysical plasmas is determined by several mechanisms, including instabilities, dynamo effects and ultra-high energy particle flows through gas, plasma and interstellar-media.…
Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) afterglows are well described by synchrotron emission from relativistic blast waves expanding into an external medium. The blast wave is believed to amplify the magnetic field and accelerate the electrons into a power…
The recent detection of delayed X-ray and optical emission, ``afterglow,'' associated with gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) supports models, where the bursts are produced by relativistic expanding blastwaves, ``fireballs,'' at cosmological…
The acceleration of charged particles at astrophysical collisionless shock waves is one of the best studied processes for the energization of particles to ultrarelativistic energies, required by multifrequency observations in a variety of…
When two plasmas collide, their interaction can be mediated by collisionless plasma instabilities or binary collisions between particles of each shell. By comparing the maximum growth rate of the collisionless instabilities with the…