Related papers: GRB Spikes Could Resolve Stars
The unrivalled, extreme luminosities of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) make them the favored beacons for sampling the high redshift Universe. To employ GRBs to study the cosmic terrain -- e.g., star and galaxy formation history -- GRB luminosities…
Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) are unique probes of the cosmic star formation history and the state of the intergalactic medium up to the redshifts of the first stars. In particular, the ongoing {\it Swift} mission might be the first observatory…
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the most luminous electromagnetic explosions in the Universe, which emit up to $8.8\times10^{54}$ erg isotropic equivalent energy in the hard X-ray band. The high luminosity makes them detectable out to the…
A gamma-ray burst (GRB) releases an amount of energy similar to that of a supernova explosion, which combined with its rapid variability suggests an origin related to neutron stars or black holes. Since these compact stellar remnants form…
After presenting a short history of gamma-ray burst (GRB) studies, we discuss the current constraints on GRB models which follows from astronomical observations. We concentrate on the energetics of the GRBs with known redshifts and the…
The nature of Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) remains a complete mystery, despite the recent breakthrough discovery of low energy counterparts, although it is now generally believed that at least most GRBs are at cosmological distances. Virtually…
Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) explosions from the first generation of stars offer an exciting opportunity to probe the epoch of reionization. Clues about how and when the intergalactic medium was ionized can be read off their UV emission spectrum.…
Since the launch of the highly successful and ongoing Swift mission, the field of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) has undergone a revolution. The arcsecond GRB localizations available within just a few minutes of the GRB alert has signified the…
The relative-space-time-transformation (RSTT) paradigm and the interpretation of the burst-structure (IBS) paradigm are applied to probe the origin of the time variability of GRBs. Again GRB 991216 is used as a prototypical case, thanks to…
Cosmological gamma ray bursts (GRBs) are the brightest explosions in the Universe. Satellite detectors, such as Beppo-SAX, HETE2 and more recently Swift, have provided a wealth of data, including the localization and redshifts of subsets of…
The association of long gamma-ray bursts with supernovae naturally suggests that the cosmic GRB rate should trace the star formation history. Finding otherwise would provide important clues concerning these rare, curious phenomena. Using a…
Due to their highly luminous nature, gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are useful tools in studying the early Universe (up to z = 10). We consider whether the available subset of Swift high redshift GRBs are unusual when compared to analogous…
Gamma-ray emitting binaries (GREBs) are complex systems. Its study became in the last years a major endeavour for the high-energy astrophysics community, both from an observational and a theoretical perspective. Whereas the accumulation of…
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) by virtue of their high luminosities can be detected up to very high redshifts and therefore can be excellent probes of the early universe. This task is hampered by the fact that most of their characteristics have a…
With its rapid-response capability and multiwavelength complement of instruments, the Swift satellite has transformed our physical understanding of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Providing high-quality observations of hundreds of bursts, and…
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the most brilliant objects in the Universe but efforts to estimate the total energy released in the explosion -- a crucial physical quantity -- have been stymied by their unknown geometry: spheres or cones. We…
We discuss how gamma-ray burst (GRB) optical afterglows and multiwavelength observations of their host galaxies can be used to obtain information about the relative amounts of star formation happening in optical and submillimetre galaxies.…
The blast-wave model for gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) has been called into question by observations of spectra from GRBs that are harder than can be produced through optically thin synchrotron emission. If GRBs originate from the collapse of…
Only one optical flash associated with a gamma-ray burst has been detected so far by ROTSE. There are also upper limits obtained by several groups for several bursts. Recent model calculations indicate a possibility that optical flash may…
From Galactic binary sources, to extragalactic magnetized neutron stars, to long-duration GRBs without associated supernovae, the types of sources we now believe capable of producing bursts of gamma-rays continues to grow apace. With this…