No Arabic abstract
Studying transient phenomena with the Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) technique faces severe difficulties because the turnaround time of the experiments from the observations to the scientific result is rather long. The e-VLBI technique has made it possible to transfer the data from a number of European VLBI Network (EVN) telescopes to the central data processor at JIVE through optical fibres, and correlate them in real time. The main goal of this paper is to introduce this rapidly developing new technique, by presenting observational results from a recent experiment. We observed SN2001em, a Type Ib/c supernova with an e-VLBI array and the Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) in the UK. The source is marginally detected in our observations. We cannot make definite conclusions whether it is resolved at 1.6 GHz or not. Our data show that SN2001em either started fading in the last couple of months, or its radio spectrum is inverted at low frequencies,indicating free-free or synchrotron self-absorption. This is quite unusual, but not unprecedented in radio SNe.
We report on a VLA survey for late-time radio emission from 59 supernovae (SNe) of Type I b/c, which have been associated with long-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). An off-axis GRB burst (i.e. whose relativistic jet points away from us) is expected to have late-time radio emission even in the absence of significant prompt gamma-ray emission. From our sample, we detected only SN 2003gk with an 8.4-GHz flux density of $2260 pm 130 ,mu$Jy. Our subsequent VLBI observations of SN 2003gk, at an age of $sim$8 yr, allowed us to determine its radius to be $(2.4 pm 0.4) times 10^{17}$ cm, or $94 pm 15$ light days. This radius rules out relativistic expansion as expected for an off-axis GRB jet, and instead suggests an expansion speed of $sim 10:000$ km s$^{-1}$ typical for non-relativistic core-collapse supernovae. We attribute the late-onset radio emission to interaction of the ejecta with a dense shell caused by episodic mass-loss from the progenitor. In addition, we present new calculations for the expected radio lightcurves from GRB jets at various angles to the line of sight, and compare these to our observed limits on the flux densities of the remainder of our SN sample. From this comparison we can say that only a fraction of broadlined Type I b/c SNe have a radio-bright jet similar to those seen for GRB afterglows at cosmological distances. However, we also find that for a reasonable range of parameters, as might be representative of the actual population of GRB events rather than the detected bright ones, the radio emission from the GRB jets can be quite faint, and that at present, radio observations do not place strong constraints on off-axis GRB jets.
In light of the most recent observations of late afterglows produced by the merger of compact objects or by the core-collapse of massive dying stars, we research the evolution of the afterglow produced by an off-axis top-hat jet and its interaction with a surrounding medium. The medium is parametrized by a power law distribution of the form $n(r)propto r^{-k}$ is the stratification parameter and contains the development when the surrounding density is constant ($k=0$) or wind-like ($k=2$). We develop an analytical synchrotron forward-shock model when the outflow is viewed off-axis, and it is decelerated by a stratified medium. Using the X-ray data points collected by a large campaign of orbiting satellites and ground telescopes, we have managed to apply our model and fit the X-ray spectrum of the GRB afterglow associated to SN 2020bvc with conventional parameters. Our model predicts that its circumburst medium is parametrized by a power law with stratification parameter $k=1.5$.
The search for an understanding of an energy source great enough to explain the gamma-ray burst (GRB) phenomena has attracted much attention from the astrophysical community since its discovery. In this paper we extend the work of K. Asano and T. Fukuyama, and J. D. Salmonson and J. R. Wilson, and analyze the off-axis contributions to the energy-momentum deposition rate (MDR) from the neutrino anti-neutrino collisions above a rotating black hole/thin accretion disk system. Our calculations are performed by imaging the accretion disk at a specified observer using the full geodesic equations, and calculating the cumulative MDR from the scattering of all pairs of neutrinos and anti-neutrinos arriving at the observer. Our results shed light on the beaming efficiency of GRB models of this kind. Although we confirm Asano and Fukuyamas conjecture as to the constancy of the beaming for small angles away from the axis; nevertheless, we find the dominant contribution to the MDR comes from near the surface of the disk with a tilt of approximately pi/4 in the direction of the disks rotation. We find that the MDR at large radii is directed outward in a conic section centered around the symmetry axis and is larger, by a factor of 10 to 20, than the on-axis values. By including this off-axis disk source, we find a linear dependence of the MDR on the black hole angular momentum (a). In addition, we find that scattering is directed back onto the black hole in regions just above the horizon of the black hole. This gravitational ``in scatter may provide an observable high energy signature of the central engine, or at least another channel for accretion.
The short-duration ($lesssim2;$s) GRB 170817A in the nearby ($D=40;$Mpc) elliptical galaxy NGC 4993 is the first electromagnetic counterpart of the first gravitational wave (GW) detection of a binary neutron-star (NS-NS) merger. It was followed by optical, IR, and UV emission from half a day up to weeks after the event, as well as late time X-ray and radio emission. The early UV, optical, and IR emission showed a quasi-thermal spectrum suggestive of radioactive-decay powered kilonova-like emission. Comparison to kilonova models favors the formation of a short-lived ($sim1;$s) hypermassive NS, which is also supported by the $Delta tapprox1.74;$s delay between the GW chirp signal and the prompt GRB onset. However, the late onset of the X-ray (8.9$;$days) and radio (16.4$;$days) emission, together with the low isotropic equivalent $gamma$-ray energy output ($E_{rmgamma,iso}approx5times10^{46};$erg), strongly suggest emission from a narrow relativistic jet viewed off-axis. Here we set up a general framework for off-axis GRB jet afterglow emission, comparing analytic and numerical approaches, and showing their general predictions for short-hard GRBs that accompany binary NS mergers. The prompt GRB emission suggests a viewing angle well outside the jets core, and we compare the afterglow lightcurves expected in such a case to the X-ray to radio emission from GRB 170817A. We fit an afterglow off-axis jet model to the X-ray and radio data and find that the observations are explained by a viewing angle $theta_{rm obs}approx16^circ-26^circ$, GRB jet energy $Esim10^{48.5}-10^{49.5}~{rm erg}$, and external density $nsim10^{-5}-10^{-1}~{rm cm}^{-3}$ for a $xi_esim 0.1$ non-thermal electron acceleration efficiency.
We report the results of the first two 5 GHz e-VLBI observations of the X-ray binary Cygnus X-3 using the European VLBI Network. Two successful observing sessions were held, on 2006 April 20, when the system was in a quasi-quiescent state several weeks after a major flare, and on 2006 May 18, a few days after another flare. At the first epoch we detected faint emission probably associated with a fading jet, spatially separated from the X-ray binary. The second epoch in contrast reveals a bright, curved, relativistic jet more than 40 milliarcseconds in extent. In the first, and probably also second epochs, the X-ray binary core is not detected, which may indicate a temporary suppression of jet production as seen in some black hole X-ray binaries in certain X-ray states. Spatially resolved polarisation maps at the second epoch provide evidence of interaction between the ejecta and the surrounding medium. These results clearly demonstrate the importance of rapid analysis of long-baseline observations of transients, such as facilitated by e-VLBI.