Related papers: Gamma Ray Bursts from Stellar Collisions
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have been phenomenologically classified into long and short populations based on the observed bimodal distribution of duration. Multi-wavelength and multi-messenger observations in recent years have revealed that in…
The last five years have seen growing challenges to the traditional paradigm of a core collapse supernova powered by the neutrino emission of a young proto-neutron star. Chief among these challenges are gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and the…
A variety of arguments suggest that the most common form of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), those longer than a few seconds, involve the formation of black holes in supernova-like events. Two kinds of ``collapsar'' models are discussed, those in…
To anyone who has read a scientific journal or even a newspaper in the last six months, it might appear that cosmic gamma-ray bursts hold no more mysteries: they are cosmological, and possibly the most powerful explosions in the Universe.…
The recent localization of some short-hard gamma ray bursts (GRBs) in galaxies with low star formation rates has lent support to the suggestion that these events result from compact object binary mergers. We discuss how new simulations in…
The hypothesis that short GRBs arise from the coalescence of binary compact stars has recently gained support. With this comes the expectation that the afterglow should bear the characteristic signature of a tenuous intergalactic medium…
Cosmological gamma ray bursts (GRBs) are thought to occur from violent hypercritical accretion onto stellar mass black holes, either following core collapse in massive stars or compact binary mergers. This dichotomy may be reflected in the…
A study of gamma rays produced when stars collapse or collide reveals details of the explosion mechanism, particularly the role of magnetic fields.
Neutron star binaries, such as the one observed in the famous binary pulsar PSR 1916+13, end their life in a catastrophic merge event (denoted here NS$^2$M). The merger releases $\approx 5 \cdot 10^{53}$ergs, mostly as neutrinos and…
Over the past five years evidence has mounted that long-duration (> 2 s) gamma-ray bursts (GRBs)--the most brilliant of all astronomical explosions--signal the collapse of massive stars in our Universe. This evidence was originally based on…
Striking similarities exist between high energy gamma ray emission from active galactic nuclei (AGN) and gamma ray bursts (GRBs). They suggest that GRBs are generated by inverse Compton scattering from highly relativistic electrons in…
In almost any scenario for 'cosmological' gamma-ray bursts (and in many models where they originate in our own Galaxy), the initial energy density is so large that the resulting relativistic plasma expands with $v\sim c$ producing a blast…
The properties of the cosmic Gamma-ray Bursts (GRBs) are briefly summarized. A detailed bibliography is given with titles of the papers. Two fundamental theoretical problems are pointed out: the problem of the energy source, and the problem…
Coalescing binary systems, consisting of two collapsed objects, are among the most promising sources of high frequency gravitational waves signals detectable, in principle, by ground-based interferometers. Binary systems of Neutron Star or…
Starburst galaxies have a highly increased star-formation rate compared to regular galaxies and inject huge amounts of kinetic power into the interstellar medium via supersonic stellar winds, and supernova explosions. Supernova remnants,…
It is generally believed that long-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are associated with massive star core-collapse, whereas short-duration GRBs are associated with mergers of compact star binaries. However, growing observations have…
We discuss some open problems concerning the origin and the emission mechanism of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) in light of recent developments. If GRBs originate at extragalactic distances, we are facing four crises: (1) an energy crisis, models…
The first locations of short gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) in elliptical galaxies suggest they are produced by the mergers of double neutron star (DNS) binaries in old stellar populations. Globular clusters, where the extreme densities of very…
It is now generally accepted that long-duration gamma ray bursts (GRBs) are due to the collapse of massive rotating stars. The precise collapse process itself, however, is not yet fully understood. Strong winds, outbursts, and intense…
Photoexcitation and ionization of partially ionized heavy atoms in highly relativistic flows by interstellar photons, followed by their reemission in radiative recombination and decay, boost star-light into beamed $\gamma$ rays along the…