Related papers: Is Thermal Emission in Gamma-Ray Bursts Ubiquitous…
A major breakthrough in our understanding of gamma-ray bursts (GRB) prompt emission physics occurred in the last few years, with the realization that a thermal component accompanies the over-all non-thermal prompt spectra. This thermal part…
The spectral components of the prompt emission of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) mainly consist of two possible origins: synchrotron (nonthermal) and photosphere (thermal). The typical spectral properties of GRBs can be modeled by a dominant…
I discuss the interpretation of the prompt phase in gamma-ray bursts as being dominated by quasi-thermal emission, rather than by synchrotron emission. Such an interpretation gives a more natural explanation of (i) the observed variety of…
Recent analyses show evidence for a thermal emission component that accompanies the non-thermal emission during the prompt phase of GRBs. First, we show the evidence for the existence of this component; Second, we show that this component…
In recent years, there are increasing evidence for a thermal emission component that accompanies the overall non-thermal spectra of the prompt emission phase in GRBs. Both the temperature and flux of the thermal emission show a well defined…
Recent observations by the $Fermi$ Gamma-ray Space Telescope have confirmed the existence of thermal and non-thermal components in the prompt photon spectra of some Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Through an analysis of six bright Fermi GRBs, we…
A review on the spectral and temporal properties of gamma-ray bursts is given. Special attention is paid to the spectral evolution of their continuum emission and its connection to the time evolution of the intensity. Efforts on…
A thermal component is suggested to be the physical composition of the ejecta of several bright gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Such a thermal component is discovered in the time-integrated spectra of several short GRBs as well as long GRBs. In…
We discuss gamma-ray bursts that have very hard spectra, consistent with black-body radiation, throughout their duration. We find that the temperature decay during a pulse can be well described by a broken power-law in time, with an…
The observations of the prompt emission of gamma ray bursts (GRB) by GLAST Burst Monitor (GBM), on board Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, suggest the presence of a significant thermal spectral component, whose origin is not well understood.…
The origin of gamma-ray burst (GRB) prompt emission, bursts of gamma-rays lasting from shorter than one second to thousands of seconds, remains not fully understood after more than 40 years of observations. The uncertainties lie in several…
One of the most important unresolved issues in gamma-ray burst physics is the origin of the prompt gamma-ray spectrum. Its general non-thermal character and the softness in the X-ray band remain unexplained. We tackle these issues by…
Gamma-ray burst spectra usually show hard-to-soft evolution within intensity spikes and from spike to spike. The techniques used to study spectral evolution often lack sufficient temporal resolution to determine the nature of this…
The internal/external synchrotron shock scenario has proved very successful in interpreting the key observations about gamma ray bursts. There still remains, however, some big uncertainties. The hottest issue concerns the nature of the…
We consider the evidence for very hard low energy spectra during the prompt phase of Gamma Ray Bursts (GRB). In particular we examine the spectral evolution of GRB 980306 together with the detailed analysis of some other bursts already…
In recent years, our understanding of gamma-ray bursts (GRB) prompt emission has been revolutionized, due to a combination of new instruments, new analysis methods and novel ideas. In this review, I describe the most recent observational…
GRB spectra appear non-thermal, but recent observations of a few bursts with Fermi GBM have confirmed previous indications from BATSE of the presence of an underlying thermal component. Photospheric emission is indeed expected when the…
Previous studies of the evolution of gamma-ray burst spectra have generally relied on fitting sequences of spectra. These studies usually were confined to bright bursts and often lacked sufficient temporal resolution. We have developed…
There is no consensus yet on whether the precursor and the main burst of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have the same origin, and their jet composition is still unclear. In order to further investigate this issue, we systematically search 21 Fermi…
If the emission of gamma-ray bursts were due to the synchrotron process in the standard internal shock scenario, then the typical observed spectrum should have a slope F(nu) \propto nu^{-1/2}, which strongly conflicts with the much harder…