Observations of cosmic gamma-ray bursts

The occasional occurrence of brief but intense bursts of cosmic gamma-rays was disclosed through a systematic search of data acquired from the Vela satellites. Confirmation of the nature of the events and additional detail of their characteristics has subsequently been provided by 15 other groups of experimenters with instruments on 13 spacecraft. Thirty-nine such events have been identified from data spanning a period of four and a half years. The record of intensity as a function of time varies considerably for different events, with total durations ranging from 0.1 to 60s. Time-integrated flux density ranges from 10^–6 to 10^–3 erg cm^–2. Spectral measurements have been accomplished by several groups of experimenters, showing a broad maximum in the energy distribution at about 150 keV. The distribution of source directions implies either near galactic or extragalactic locations. The existing data are not sufficient to distinguish between the various models proposed to explain the phenomenon; no model is completely consistent with all observed characteristics.Work performed under the auspices of the United States Energy Research and Development Administration.Paper presented at the COSPAR Symposium on Fast Transients in X-and Gamma-Rays, held at Varna, Bulgaria, 29–31 May, 1975.     

Ulysses observations of cosmic gamma-ray bursts

We review the current status of the Ulysses mission and summarize the results to date of the GRB experiment. This instrument detects bursts at the rate of about one every 3.5 days, and the localization data are being disseminated rapidly via the BACO-DINE and NMSU networks. The mission should operate through 2001, and future missions to Mars starting in 1996 will complete the 3rd Interplanetary Network.     

The origin of cosmic gamma-ray bursts

The positions of 46 γ-ray burst sources on the sky are used to show that the majority of these objects either originate in very distant regions with redshifts ?30000 km s^?1 or within ?0.5β of the Sun; where β is the scale-height of the parent population perpendicular to the galactic disc. An origin of the majority of γ-ray bursts in the more distant parts of the galactic disc, the galactic nuclear bulge, the Virgo supercluster, in galaxies withm _pg<18 and rich in Abell clusters of distance classes 0 to 4 is excluded by the data.     

On the nature of cosmic gamma-ray bursts

Photoelectric and spectrographic observations of the Be star Eri made during five nights indicate that the luminosity variations have a different periodicity from that of radial velocity variations. This result seems to show that, at least during our observing time, the observed variability has not to be ascribed to a pulsation of the star.     

The microsecond variability of cosmic gamma-ray bursts

The possibility of microsecond flares from cosmic gamma-ray sources is considered taking into account theoretical models. Several observations effects resulted from these flares are also presented.     

The statistical properties of cosmic gamma-ray bursts

Recent localizations of cosmic gamma-ray bursts (GBRs) are studied taking into account the estimations of their intensities. The increase of the avergage intensity of GRBs along galactic longitudesl=220–260° andl=40–80° is found. It may be associated with the Orion spiral arm and the central region of the Galaxy. Corresponding enhancement of the number of intense GRBs for directions along the Orion arm is also found. Astrophysical conclusions from this possible galaxy-scale distribution of GRBs are discussed.     

Analysis of narrow spikes in two cosmic gamma-ray bursts

An analysis has been made of the narrow intensity spikes occurring in two cosmic gammaray bursts which were observed with a fast time resolution germanium spectrometer on board the low altitude polar orbiting satellite 1972-076B (Imhofet al., 1974a, 1975; Nakanoet al., 1974a). The bursts on 18 December, 1972 and 21 July, 1973, were also recorded on the Vela satellite system. The durations of three spikes were observed to be 0.06 s with the limits being 0.03 to 0.10 s. Four other narrow spikes were measured to have time width limits between 0.001 and 0.10 s. An additional eight spikes had widths less than 0.9 s. During the spikes, the gamma-ray intensities increased by factors of 2 to 10, with a median value of 3. These and other characteristics of the fast time structure are presented.Paper presented at the COSPAR Symposium on Fast Transients in X- and Gamma-Rays, held at Varna, Bulgaria, 29–31 May, 1975.     

Gamma-ray bursts, ultra-high-energy cosmic rays, and cosmic gamma-ray background

We argue that gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) may be the origin of the cosmic gamma-ray background radiation observed in the GeV range. It has theoretically been discussed that protons may carry a much larger amount of energy than electrons in GRBs, and this large energy can be radiated in the TeV range by synchrotron radiation of ultra-high-energy protons ( 10²⁰ eV). The possible detection of GRBs above 10 TeV suggested by the Tibet and HEGRA groups also supports this idea. If this is the case, most of TeV gamma-rays from GRBs are absorbed in intergalactic fields and eventually form GeV gamma-ray background, whose flux is in good agreement with the recent observation.     

United classification of cosmic gamma-ray bursts and their counterparts

This paper establishes united classification of gamma-ray bursts and their counterparts on the basis of measured characteristics: photon energy E and emission duration T. We find that the interrelation between these characteristics is such that as the energy increases, the duration decreases (and vice versa). The given interrelation reflects the nature of the phenomenon and forms the E–T diagram, which represents a natural classification of all observed events in the energy range from about 10⁹ to 10⁻⁶ eV and in the corresponding interval of durations from about 10⁻² up to 10⁸ s. The proposed classification results from our findings, which are principal for the theory and practical study of the phenomenon.     

Catalog of cosmic gamma-ray bursts from the KONUS experiment data

Data are presented on the temporal structure, fluxes, energy spectra and coordinates of the sources of gamma-ray bursts detected in the KONUS experiment on Venera 11 and Venera 12 space probes in the period September 1978 to May 1979. The statistical distributions of gamma bursts in duration, intensity, and peak power, as well as the distribution of the burst sources over the celestial sphere presented are based on the updated KONUS information obtained until February 1980.     

Search for ultrahigh-energy cosmic gamma-ray bursts on the Baksan underground scintillation telescope

Based on data from the Baksan underground scintillation telescope (BUST) for the period 2001–2004, we searched for cosmic gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) at primary photon energies of 0.5 TeV or higher. We obtained constraints on the rate of bursts with durations of 1–10 s for fluences within the range 4.6 × 10⁻³-1.8 × 10⁻² erg cm⁻² in the declination band 30° ≤ δ ≤ 80°. We searched for ultrahigh-energy gamma rays from GRBs detected on spacecraft during and within ±2 h of the burst. No statistically significant excesses above the background of random coincidences were found. The derived constraints on the ultrahigh-energy gamma-ray fluence during GRBs lie within the range 4.6 × 10⁻³-3.7 × 10⁻² erg cm⁻².     

Selection effects on the size and frequency distribution of cosmic gamma-ray bursts

We investigate selection effects on the size and frequency relation (logN-logS curve) of cosmic gamma-ray bursts. After analyzing the published data, we find an indication that an effect is caused by the different time profiles of the bursts. The effect is important for small bursts and causes significant changes in the logN-logS curve. in order to avoid this selection effect, we mention that it is essential to use the logN-logP relation of the logN-logS relation, as already suggested by other authors. Here,P is the peak flux of the burst, which is free from bias due to the difference in time profiles. After an analysis of the published data, we find a distribution nearP ^–3/2 in the range above a peak flux of 40 counts/0.25 s.We also show that the relation between the logN-logP curve and the observed celestial distribution for the bursts can easily be explained by our general arguments on a disk-like spatial distribution of burst sources in the Galaxy.     

Periodicities in gamma-ray bursts

One of the most recent discoveries on gamma-ray bursts was the fact that one, or possibly two, of them had a pulsed emission with a periodicity of 8 and 4 s. The intensity of successive peaks decreased exponentially with time. We can speculate that the energy range and/or the lack of sensitivity are probably the reasons why periodicities were not discoverded in some other bursts. In fact, many time-histories show a double or multiple peak structure. If they were periodic, the distance between successive peaks would be equal to the period. Based on this extremely simplified assumption, a search on all available gamma-ray burst time-histories shows that most the periodicities above 1 s should be contained within an interval between 1 and 9 s, with a maximum at approximately 3 s.Paper presented at the Symposium on Cosmic Gamma-Ray Bursts held at Toulouse, France, 26–29 November, 1979.     

Superlong gamma-ray bursts

We searched for anomalously long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) in the archival records of the Burst and Transient Sources Experiment (BATSE). Ten obvious superlong (>500 s) GRBs with almost continuous emission episodes were found. Nine of these events were known from the BATSE catalog, but five had no duration estimates; we found one burst for the first time. We also detected events with emission episodes separated by a long period of quiescence (up to ～1000 s) with a total duration of 1000–2000 s. In the latter case, we cannot reach an unequivocal conclusion about a common origin of the episodes due to the BATSE poor angular resolution. However, for most of these pairs, the probability of independent GRBs coinciding is much lower than unity, and the probability that all of these are coincidences is ～10^?8. All of the events have a hardness ratio (the ratio of the count rates in different energy channels) typical of GRBs, and their unique duration is unlikely to be related to their high redshifts. Superlong bursts do not differ in their properties from typical long (>2 s) GRBs. We estimated the fraction of superlong GRBs (>500 s) among the long (>2 s)GRBs in the BATSE sample with fluxes up to 0.1 ph cm^?2 s^?1 to be between 0.3 and 0.5%, which is higher than the estimate based on the BATSE catalog.     

Neutron-loaded outflows in gamma-ray bursts

The force-free limit of magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) is often a reasonable approximation to model black hole and neutron star magnetospheres. We describe a general relativistic force-free (GRFFE) formulation that allows general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) codes to directly evolve the GRFFE equations of motion. Established, accurate and well-tested conservative GRMHD codes can simply add a new inversion piece of code to their existing code, while continuing to use all the already-developed facilities present in their GRMHD code. We show how to enforce the   E · B = 0  constraint and energy conservation, and we introduce a simplified general model of the dissipation of the electric field to enforce the   B ²− E ² > 0  constraint. We also introduce a simplified yet general method to resolve current sheets, without much reconnection, over many dynamical times. This formulation is incorporated into an existing GRMHD code ( harm ), which is demonstrated to give accurate and robust GRFFE results for Minkowski and black hole space–times.     

Time-scales in long gamma-ray bursts

We analyse a sample of bright long bursts and find that the pulse durations have a lognormal distribution while the intervals between pulses have an excess of long intervals (relative to lognormal distribution). This excess can be explained by the existence of quiescent times , long periods with no signal above the background level. The lognormal distribution of the intervals (excluding the quiescent times ) is similar to the distribution of the pulse widths. This result suggests that the quiescent times are made by a different mechanism than the rest of the intervals. It also suggests that the intervals (excluding the quiescent times ) and the pulse width are connected to the same parameters of the source. We find that there is a correlation between a pulse width and the duration of the interval preceding it. There is a weaker, but still a significant, correlation between a pulse width and the interval following it. The significance of the correlation drops substantially when the intervals considered are not adjacent to the pulse.     

Cosmological models of gamma-ray bursts

We review models of cosmological gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). The statistical and -ray transparency issues are summarized. Neutron-star and black-hole merger scenarios are described and estimates of merger rates are summarized. We review the simple fireball models for GRBs and the recent work on non-simple fireballs. Alternative cosmological models, including models where GRBs are analogs of active galactic nuclei and where they are produced by high-field, short period pulsars, are also mentioned. The value of neutrino astronomy to solve the GRB puzzle is briefly reviewed.     

A search for cosmic gamma-ray bursts with a balloon-borne NaI(T1) scintillation crystal

A search has been made for gamma-ray bursts in 15 hours of data obtained from a balloonborne gamma-ray detector on 10 October and 21 October, 1970. The event rate for photon energy losses in the 0.1–0.4 MeV range from the 13-in. diameter by 6-in. thick NaI(T1) scintillation crystal was examined for statistically significant fluctuations as an indication of gamma-ray bursts. Searches of the data were made with time resolutions varying from 2 ms to 64 s. Four statistically significant bursts were detected and are considered as possible cosmic gamma-ray burst events. The characteristic duration of all four of the observed events is 100 ms. Similar events can be generated in the laboratory following an extremely large (10³ GeV) thirty ns X-ray energy deposition in the NaI(T1) crystal. The implications of these short duration, low intensity events, if valid gamma-ray bursts, are discussed.Paper presented at the COSPAR Symposium on Fast Transients in X- and Gamma-Rays, held at Varna, Bulgaria, 29–31 May, 1975.