No Arabic abstract
GRB 190114C, a long and luminous burst, was detected by several satellites and ground-based telescopes from radio wavelengths to GeV gamma-rays. In the GeV gamma-rays, the Fermi LAT detected 48 photons above 1 GeV during the first hundred seconds after the trigger time, and the MAGIC telescopes observed for more than one thousand seconds very-high-energy (VHE) emission above 300 GeV. Previous analysis of the multi-wavelength observations showed that although these are consistent with the synchrotron forward-shock model that evolves from a stratified stellar-wind to homogeneous ISM-like medium, photons above few GeVs can hardly be interpreted in the synchrotron framework. In the context of the synchrotron forward-shock model, we derive the light curves and spectra of the synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) model in the stratified and homogeneous medium. In particular, we study the evolution of these light curves during the stratified-to-homogeneous afterglow transition. Using the best-fit parameters reported for GRB 190114C we interpret the photons beyond the synchrotron limit in the SSC framework and model its spectral energy distribution. We conclude that low-redshift GRBs described under a favourable set of parameters as found in the early afterglow of GRB 190114C could be detected at hundreds of GeVs, and also afterglow transitions would allow that VHE emission could be observed for longer periods.
Many relativistic plasma environments in high-energy astrophysics, including pulsar wind nebulae, hot accretion flows onto black holes, relativistic jets in active galactic nuclei and gamma-ray bursts, and giant radio lobes, are naturally turbulent. The plasma in these environments is often so hot that synchrotron and inverse-Compton (IC) radiative cooling becomes important. In this paper we investigate the general thermodynamic and radiative properties (and hence the observational appearance) of an optically thin relativistically hot plasma stirred by driven magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence and cooled by radiation. We find that if the system reaches a statistical equilibrium where turbulent heating is balanced by radiative cooling, the effective electron temperature tends to attain a universal value $theta = kT_e/m_e c^2 sim 1/sqrt{tau_T}$, where $tau_T=n_esigma_T L ll 1$ is the systems Thomson optical depth, essentially independent of the strength of turbulent driving or magnetic field. This is because both MHD turbulent dissipation and synchrotron cooling are proportional to the magnetic energy density. We also find that synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) cooling and perhaps a few higher-order IC components are automatically comparable to synchrotron in this regime. The overall broadband radiation spectrum then consists of several distinct components (synchrotron, SSC, etc.), well separated in photon energy (by a factor $sim tau_T^{-1}$) and roughly equal in power. The number of IC peaks is checked by Klein-Nishina effects and depends logarithmically on $tau_T$ and the magnetic field. We also examine the limitations due to synchrotron self-absorption, explore applications to Crab PWN and blazar jets, and discuss links to radiative magnetic reconnection.
We present multi-wavelength observations of a typical long duration GRB 120326A at $z=1.798$, including rapid observations using a submillimeter array (SMA), and a comprehensive monitoring in X-ray and optical. The SMA observation provided the fastest detection to date among seven submillimeter afterglows at 230 GHz. The prompt spectral analysis, using Swift and Suzaku yielded a spectral peak energy of $E^{rm src}_{rm peak}=107.8^{+15.3}_{-15.3}$ keV and equivalent isotropic energy of $E_{rm iso}$ as $3.18^{+0.40}_{-0.32}times 10^{52}$ erg. The temporal evolution and spectral properties in the optical were consistent with the standard forward shock synchrotron with jet collimation ($6^{circ}.69pm0^{circ}.16$). The forward shock modeling using a 2D relativistic hydrodynamic jet simulation also determined the reasonable burst explosion and the synchrotron radiation parameters for the optical afterglow. The X-ray light curve showed no apparent jet break and the temporal decay index relation between the X-ray and optical ($alpha{rm o}-alpha_{X}=-1.45pm0.10$) indicated different radiation processes in the X-ray and optical. Introducing synchrotron self-inverse Compton radiation from reverse shock is a possible solution, and the detection and the slow decay of the afterglow in submillimeter supports that this is a plausible idea. The observed temporal evolution and spectral properties as well as forward shock modeling parameters, enabled to determine reasonable functions to describe the afterglow properties. Because half of events share similar properties in the X-ray and optical to the current event, GRB120326A will be a benchmarks with further rapid follow-ups, using submillimeter instruments such as SMA and ALMA.
We calculate the synchrotron and inverse-Compton emissions from pairs formed in GRB afterglows from high-energy photons (above 100 MeV), assuming a power-law photon spectrum C_nu ~ nu^{-2} and considering only the pairs generated from primary high-energy photons. The essential properties of these pairs (number, minimal energy, cooling energy, distribution with energy) and of their emission (peak flux, spectral breaks, spectral slope) are set by the observables GeV fluence Phi (t) = Ft and spectrum, and by the Lorentz factor Gamma and magnetic field B of the source of high-energy photons, at observer-time t. Optical and X-ray pseudo--light-curves F_nu (Gamma) are calculated for given B; proper synchrotron self-Compton light-curves are calculated by setting the dynamics Gamma(t) of the high-energy photons source to be that of a decelerating, relativistic shock. It is found that the emission from pairs can accommodate the flux and decays of the optical flashes measured during the prompt (GRB) phase and of the faster-decaying X-ray plateaus observed during the delayed (afterglow) phase. The brightest pair optical emission is obtained for 100 < Gamma < 500, and depends mostly on the GeV fluence, being independent of the source redshift. Emission from pairs formed during the GRB phase offers an alternate explanation to reverse-shock optical flashes. These two models may be distinguished based on their corresponding flux decay index--spectral slope relations, different correlations with the LAT fluence, or through modeling of the afterglow multiwavelength data.
We extend previous work on gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows involving hot thermal electrons at the base of a shock-accelerated tail. Using a physically-motivated electron distribution based on first-principles simulations, we compute broadband emission from radio to TeV gamma-rays. For the first time, we present the effects of a thermal distribution of electrons on synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) emission. The presence of thermal electrons causes temporal and spectral structure across the entire observable afterglow, which is substantively different from models that assume a pure power-law distribution for the electrons. We show that early-time TeV emission is enhanced by more than an order of magnitude for our fiducial parameters, with a time-varying spectral index that does not occur for a pure power law of electrons. We further show that the X-ray closure relations take a very different, also time-dependent, form when thermal electrons are present; the shape traced out by the X-ray afterglows is a qualitative match to observations of the traditional decay phase.
We discuss the new surprising observational results that indicate quite convincingly that the prompt emission of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) is due to synchrotron radiation produced by a particle distribution that has a low energy cut-off. The evidence of this is provided by the low energy part of the spectrum of the prompt emission, that shows the characteristic F(nu) propto nu^(1/3) shape followed by F(nu) propto nu^(-1/2) up to the peak frequency. This implies that although the emitting particles are in fast cooling, they do not cool completely. This poses a severe challenge to the basic ideas about how and where the emission is produced, because the incomplete cooling requires a small value of the magnetic field, to limit synchrotron cooling, and a large emitting region, to limit the self-Compton cooling, even considering Klein-Nishina scattering effects. Some new and fundamental ingredient is required for understanding the GRBs prompt emission. We propose proton-synchrotron as a promising mechanism to solve the incomplete cooling puzzle.