Related papers: Can internal shocks produce the variability in GRB…
Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) are the brightest objects observed. They are also the most relativistic objects known so far. GRBs occur when an ultrarelativisitic ejecta is slowed down by internal shocks within the flow. Relativistic particles…
We show that the excellent optical and gamma-ray data available for GRB 080319B rule out the internal shock model for the prompt emission. The data instead point to a model in which the observed radiation was produced close to the…
In many models of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) relativistic shells are responsible for the overall envelope of emission. We use kinematics and symmetry to calculate the time history and spectral evolution expected from a relativistic shell…
We present a formalism of the dynamics of internal shocks in relativistic jets where the source has a time-dependent injection velocity and mass-loss rate. The variation of the injection velocity produces a two-shock wave structure, the…
We have developed a toy model for internal shocks which has been used to generate a large number of synthetic GRBs in order to find in the parameter space the conditions which can lead to the formation of X-ray flashes. The key condition…
While it is generally agreed that the emitting regions in Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) move ultra relativistically towards the observer, different estimates of the initial Lorentz factors, $\Gamma_0$, lead to different, at times conflicting…
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…
An external shock model for the prompt gamma-ray luminous phase of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) is treated both analytically and numerically. A widely cited derivation claiming that an external shock model for rapidly variable GRBs must be very…
The hard X-ray and gamma-ray phenomenology of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) can be explained by an external shock model where a single relativistic blast wave interacts with the surrounding medium. Besides reproducing the generic spectral…
The variability observed in many complex gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) is inconsistent with causally connected variations in a single, symmetric, relativistic shell interacting with the ambient material ("external shocks"). Rather, the symmetry…
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…
Internal shocks are a leading candidate for the dissipation mechanism that powers the prompt $\gamma$-ray emission in gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). In this scenario a compact central source produces an ultra-relativistic outflow with varying…
Many models of cosmological gamma-ray bursts involve the sudden release of $\sim 10^{51}$ erg which produce shells which expand at relativistic speeds (Lorentz $\Gamma$ factors of $10^{2-3}$). We investigate the kinematic limits on the…
Among the models used to explain the prompt emission of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), internal shocks is a leading one. Its most basic ingredient is a collision between two cold shells of different Lorentz factors in an ultra-relativistic…
We investigate, independently of specific emission models, the constraints on the value of the bulk Lorentz factor Gamma of a fireball. We assume that the burst emission comes from internal shocks in a region transparent to Thomson…
We present results of a detailed numerical study and theoretical analysis of the dynamics of internal shocks in relativistic jets and the non-thermal flares associated with these shocks. In our model internal shocks result from collisions…
It is shown that an ultrarelativistic shock with the Lorentz factor of order of tens or higher propagating in a moderately dense interstellar medium (density above $\sim 1000 $ cm$^{-3}$) undergoes a fast dramatic transformation into a…
The development of instabilities leading to the formation of internal shocks is expected in the relativistic outflows of both gamma-ray bursts and blazars. The shocks heat the expanding ejecta, generate a tangled magnetic field and…
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…
We review the observational differences between gamma-ray bursts occurring on a single shell (such as in the external shock model) and multiple shells (such as in the internal shock model). We do not argue against external shocks or for…