Related papers: A Burst of Speculation
Cosmic gamma-ray bursts are one of the great frontiers of astrophysics today. They are a playground of relativists and observers alike. They may teach us about the death of stars and the birth of black holes, the physics in extreme…
Within the framework of the internal shock model, we study the luminosity and the variability in gamma-ray bursts from collimated fireballs. In particular we pay attention to the role of the photosphere due to $e^\pm$ pairs produced by…
A plausible scenario for the gamma ray and the hard x-ray burst in a strongly magnetized plasma, based on the collective plasma maser instability, is proposed. The physical parameters with which this scenario becomes relevant are estimated.…
Relativistic strongly magnetized winds outflowing from fast-rotating compact objects like millisecond pulsars with surface magnetic fields of $\sim 10^{15}-10^{16}$ G are plausible sources of cosmological $\gamma$-ray bursts. In such winds,…
The rapid time variability of gamma-ray bursts implies the sources are very compact, and the peak luminosities are so high that some matter must be ejected at ultra-relativistic speeds. The very large Lorentz factors of the bulk flow are…
The origin of cosmic gamma-ray bursts remains one of the most intriguing puzzles in astronomy. We suggest that purely general relativistic effects in the collapse of massive stars could account for these bursts. The late formation of closed…
Interactions of grazing incidence, ultra high energy cosmic rays with the earth's atmosphere may provide a new method of studying energetic cosmic rays with gamma-ray satellites. It is found that these cosmic ray interactions may produce…
Correlation analysis of Swift gamma-ray burst coordinates and nearby star locations (catalog Gliese) reveals 4 coincidences with good angular accuracy. The random probability is 4\times 10^{-5}, so evidencing that coincident stars are…
The nearby, 30 to 40 Myr old, starburst region of the Gould Belt has formed numerous massive stars. Within its 300 pc radius, it produces core-collapse supernovae at an enhanced rate which is shown to be 75 to 95 Myr{-1} kpc{-2}, i.e. 3 to…
The positions of over 1000 gamma-ray bursts detected with the BATSE experiment on board of the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory are uniformly and randomly distributed in the sky, with no significant concentration to the galactic plane or to…
Short gamma ray bursts are presumably results of binary neutron star mergers, which lead to the formation of a stellar mass black hole, surrounded by a remnant matter. The strong magnetic fields help collimate jets of plasma, launched along…
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…
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…
Binary neutron stars merger (NS$^2$M) at cosmological distances is probably the only $\gamma$-ray bursts model based on an independently observed phenomenon which is known to be taking place at a comparable rate. We describe this model, its…
We consider a simple model for gamma-ray bursts induced by magnetic reconnection in turbulent media. The magnetic field in a jet is subject to kink instabilities, which distort the regular structure of the spiral magnetic field, drive…
In a recent paper we have calculated the power density spectrum of Gamma-Ray Bursts arising from multiple shocks in a relativistic wind. The wind optical thickness is one of the factors to which the power spectrum is most sensitive,…
Long-duration gamma-ray bursts are associated with the explosions of massive stars and are accordingly expected to reside in star-forming regions with molecular gas (the fuel for star formation). Previous searches for carbon monoxide (CO),…
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…
When massive stars exhaust their fuel they collapse and often produce the extraordinarily bright explosions known as core-collapse supernovae. On occasion, this stellar collapse also powers an even more brilliant relativistic explosion…
Gamma-ray bursts are known to be sources of high-energy gamma rays, and are likely to be sources of high-energy cosmic rays and neutrinos. Following a short review of observations of GRBs at multi-MeV energies and above, the physics of…