Related papers: A Burst of Speculation
The association of a supernova with a gamma-ray burst (GRB 030329) implies a massive star progenitor, which is expected to have an environment formed by pre-burst stellar winds. Although some sources are consistent with the expected wind…
According to recent models, gamma-ray bursts apparently explode in a wide variety of ambient densities ranging from ~ 10^{-3} to 30 cm^{-3}. The lowest density environments seem, at first sight, to be incompatible with bursts in or near…
Gamma-ray bursts are a complex, non-linear system that evolves very rapidly through stages of vastly different conditions. They evolve from scales of few hundred kilometers where they are very dense and hot to cold and tenuous on scales of…
The origin of ultra high energy cosmic rays promises to lead us to a deeper understanding of the structure of matter. This is possible through the study of particle collisions at center-of-mass energies in interactions far larger than…
We discuss the possibility that gamma-ray bursts result from internal shocks in an ultra-relativistic matter. Using a simple model we calculate the temporal structure and we estimate the efficiency of this process. In this model the…
The BATSE experiment has now observed more than 1100 gamma-ray bursts. The observed angular distribution is isotropic, while the brightness distribution of bursts shows a reduced number of faint events. These observations favor a…
A popular paradigm to explain the rapid temporal variability observed in gamma-ray burst (GRB) lightcurves is the internal shock model. We propose an alternative model in which the radiating fluid in the GRB shell is relativistically…
(Abridged) We interpret gamma ray bursts as relativistic, electromagnetic explosions. Specifically, we propose that they are created when a rotating, relativistic, stellar-mass progenitor loses much of its rotational energy in the form of a…
Structure formation in the intergalactic medium (IGM) produces large-scale, collisionless shock waves, where electrons can accelerate to highly relativistic energies. Such electrons can Compton scatter cosmic microwave background photons up…
Gamma ray burst sources are isotropically distributed. They could be located at distances $\sim 1000$ AU. (Katz \cite{JK92}) GRB signals have many narrow peaks that are unresolved at the millisecond time resolution of existing observations.…
Gamma-ray bursts are believed to originate from internal shocks which arise in an irregular relativistic wind. The process has been thought to be inefficient, converting only a few percent of the kinetic energy into gamma-rays. We define…
The stellar origin of gamma-ray bursts can be explained by the rapid release of energy in a highly collimated, extremely relativistic jet. This in turn appears to require a rapidly spinning highly magnetised stellar core that collapses into…
We have developed a computer model to calculate gamma ray burst (GRB) light curves and efficiencies from the interaction of a single, thin blast wave with clouds in the external medium. Large amplitude, spiky variability occurs when the…
We study a cosmological scenario for gamma ray bursts (GRBs) where relativistic flows interact with dense radiation fields. It is shown that this scenario is plausible in very dense stellar regions which are known to exist in collapsed…
The variety of gamma-ray burst phenomenology could be largely attributable to differences in the opening angle of an isotropic outflow or to a standard type of event viewed from different orientations. Motivated by this currently popular…
We consider different scenarios of collisions of compact objects (clouds, massive stars, supernova shock waves, or young pulsars) with jets in active galactic nuclei. The purpose is to find out if such collisions can become plausible…
The central engine causing the production of jets in radio sources may work intermittently, accelerating shells of plasma with different mass, energy and velocity. Faster but later shells can then catch up slower earlier ones. In the…
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…
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…
Since the suggestion of relativistic shocks as the origin of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) in early 90's, the mathematical formulation of this process has stayed at phenomenological level. One of the reasons for the slow development of…