Very Early Optical Afterglows for Geometric Models of X-ray Flashes and X-ray Rich GRBs

If X-ray flashes (XRFs) and X-ray rich Gamma-ray Bursts (XRRGs) have the same origin as the Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) but are viewed off-center from structured jets,their early afterglows may differ from those of GRBs,and when the ultra-relativistic outflow inter-acts with the surrounding medium,there are two shocks formed,a forward shock (FS),and a reverse shock (RS). We calculate numerically the early afterglow powered by uniform jets,Gaussian jets and power-law jets in the forward-reverse shock scenario. A set of differen-tial equations govern the dynamical evolution. The synchrotron self-Compton effect has been taken into account in the calculation. In the uniform jets,the very early afterglows of XRRGs and XRFs are significantly lower than the GRBs and the observed peak times of RS emission are later in the interstellar medium environment. The RS components in XRRGs and XRFs are difficult to detect,but in the stellar wind environment,the reduction of the very early flux and the delay of the RS peak time are not so remarkable. In nonuniform jets (Gaussian and power-law jets),where there are emission materials on the line of sight,the very early light curve resembles equivalent isotropic ejecta in general although the RS flux decay index shows notable deviations if the RS is relativistic (in stellar wind).     

Time-resolved spectral analysis of prompt emission from long gamma-ray bursts with GeV emission

We performed detailed time-resolved spectroscopy of bright long gammaray bursts(GRBs)which show significant GeV emissions(GRB 080916C,GRB090902B and GRB 090926A).In addition to the standard Band model,we also use a model consisting of a black body and a power law to fit the spectra.We find that for the latter model there are indications of an additional soft component in the spectra.While previous studies have shown that such models are required for GRB 090902B,here we find that a composite spectral model consisting of two blackbodies and a power law adequately fits the data of all the three bright GRBs.We investigate the evolution of the spectral parameters and find several interesting features that appear in all three GRBs,like(a)temperatures of the blackbodies are strongly correlated with each other,(b)fluxes in the black body components are strongly correlated with each other,(c)the temperatures of the black body trace the profile of the individual pulses of the GRBs,and(d)the characteristics of power law components like the spectral index and the delayed onset bear a close similarity to the emission characteristics in the GeV regions.We discuss the implications of these results and the possibility of identifying the radiation mechanisms during the prompt emission of GRBs.     

Effects of Magnetic Fields on Neutrino-dominated Accretion Model for Gamma-ray Bursts

Many models of gamma-ray bursts suggest a common central engine:a black hole of several solar masses accreting matter from a disk at an accretion rate from 0.01 to 10 M_⊙s~(-1),the inner region of the disk is cooled by neutrino emission and large amounts of its binding energy are liberated,which could trigger the fireball.We improve the neutrino- dominated accreting flows by including the effects of magnetic fields.We find that more than half of the liberated energy can be extracted directly by the large-scale magnetic fields in the disk,and it turns out that the temperature of the disk is a bit lower than the neutrino-dominated accreting flows without magnetic field.Therefore,the outflows are magnetically-dominated rather than neutrino dominated.In our model,the neutrino mechanism can fuel some GRBs (not the brightest ones),but cannot fuel X-ray flares.The magnetic processes(both BZ and electromagnetic luminosity from a disk)are viable mechanisms for most of GRBs and their following X-ray flares.     

An Electron Density Model above the Sunspot from a Mapping of NOAA 7260 at 17 GHz

The brightness temperature distribution of microwave emission in a solar active region generally shows a ring structure, with a dip at the centre. However, no dip was found in the Nobeyama Radioheliograph left handed circular polarization (LCP) image on 1992 August 18; instead, there was a peak. This is a completely LCP source with zero right-handed circular polarization (RCP). We examine this structure in terms of the joint effect of gyroresonance and bremsstrahlung mechanism with a raised electron density above the central part of the sunspot, and the commonly assumed temperature and vertical dipole magnetic field models. The raised electron density is found to be 1.4 × 1011 cm-3 at the chromosphere base.     

Linear Correlations between Peak Frequency of Gyrosynchrotron Spectrum and Photosphere Magnetic Fields

The gyrosynchrotron spectra are computed in a nonuniform magnetic field case, taking into account the self-and gyroresonanceabsorption. It is found that the peak frequency νp of the gyrosynchrotron spectrum systematically increases with the increasing photosphere magnetic field strength B0 and increasing viewing angle θ. It is also found for the first time that there are good positive linear correlations between νp and B0, and between log νp and log θ, with linear correlation coefficient 0.99 between νp and B0 and 0.95 between log νp and log θ. We apply the correlations to analyze two burst events observed with OVSA and find that the evolution tendencies of the photosphere magnetic field strength B0 estimated from the above expression are comparable with the observational results of SOHO/MDI. We also give a comparison of the diagnostic results of coronal magnetic field strength in both uniform and nonuniform source models.     

Polarization Position Angle Swings caused by Relativistic Effects

Polarization position angle swings of - 180 ° observed in extragalactic radio sources are a regular behavior of variability in polarization. They should be due to some kind of physically regular process. We consider relativistic shocks which propagate through and 'illuminate' regular configurations of magnetic field, producing polarization angle swing events. Two magnetic field configurations (force-free field and homogeneous helical field) are considered to demonstrate the results. It is shown that the properties of polarization angle swings and the relationship between the swings and variations in total and polarized flux density are critically dependent on the configuration of magnetic field and the dynamical behavior of the shock. In particular, we find that in some cases polarization angle swings can occur when the total and polarized flux densities only vary by a very small amount. These results may be useful for understanding the polarization variability with both long and short timescales obser     

Flare evolution and polarization changes in fine structures of solar radio emission in the 2013 April 11 event

The measurement of positions and sizes of radio sources in observations is important for understanding of the flare evolution. For the first time, solar radio spectral fine structures in an M6.5 flare that occurred on 2013 April 11 were observed simultaneously by several radio instruments at four different observatories: Chinese Solar Broadband Radio Spectrometer at Huairou(SBRS/Huairou), Ondˇrejov Radio Spectrograph in the Czech Republic(ORSC/Ondˇrejov), Badary Broadband Microwave Spectropolarimeter(BMS/Irkutsk), and spectrograph/IZMIRAN(Moscow, Troitsk). The fine structures included microwave zebra patterns(ZPs), fast pulsations and fiber bursts. They were observed during the flare brightening located at the tops of a loop arcade as shown in images taken by the extreme ultraviolet(EUV) telescope onboard NASA's satellite Solar Dynamics Observatory(SDO). The flare occurred at 06:58–07:26 UT in solar active region NOAA 11719 located close to the solar disk center. ZPs appeared near high frequency boundaries of the pulsations, and their spectra observed in Huairou and Ondˇrejov agreed with each other in terms of details. At the beginning of the flare's impulsive phase, a strong narrowband ZP burst occurred with a moderate left-handed circular polarization. Then a series of pulsations and ZPs were observed in almost unpolarized emission. After 07:00 UT a ZP appeared with a moderate right-handed polarization.In the flare decay phase(at about 07:25 UT), ZPs and fiber bursts become strongly right-hand polarized.BMS/Irkutsk spectral observations indicated that the background emission showed a left-handed circular polarization(similar to SBRS/Huairou spectra around 3 GHz). However, the fine structure appeared in the right-handed polarization. The dynamics of the polarization was associated with the motion of the flare exciter, which was observed in EUV images at 171 ?A and 131 ?A by the SDO Atmospheric Imaging Assembly(AIA). Combining magnetograms observed by the SDO Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager(HMI) with the homologous assumption of EUV flare brightenings and ZP bursts, we deduced that the observed ZPs correspond to the ordinary radio emission mode. However, future analysis needs to verify the assumption that zebra radio sources are really related to a closed magnetic loop, and are located at lower heights in the solar atmosphere than the source of pulsations.     

An explanation for 13 consecutive day activities of Mrk 421

It is surprising to find an instance of migration in the peak positions of synchrotron spectral energy distribution components during the activity epochs of Markarian 421(Mrk 421),accompanying an orphan flare at the X-ray and GeV-TeVγ-ray bands.A geometric interpretation and standard shock or stochastic acceleration models of blazar emission have difficulty reproducing these observed behaviors.The present paper introduces a linear acceleration by integrating the reconnection electric field into the particle transport model for the observed behaviors of Mrk 421.We note that strong evidence for evolution in characteristic of multi-wavelength spectral energy distribution including shifting the peak frequency,accompanying an orphan flare at the X-ray and GeV-TeVγ-ray bands provides an important electrostatic acceleration diagnostic in a blazar jet.Assuming suitable model parameters,we apply the results of the simulation to the 13-day flaring event in March 2010 of Mrk 421,concentrating on the evolution of multiwavelength spectral energy distribution characteristic by shifting the peak frequency.It is clear that the ratio of the electric field and magnetic field strength plays an important role in temporal evolution of the peak frequency of synchrotron spectral energy distribution component.We suggest it is reasonable that the electrostatic acceleration is responsible for the evolution of multi-wavelength spectral energy distribution characteristic by shifting the peak frequency.Based on the model results,we assert that the peak frequency of the synchrotron spectral energy distribution component may signify a temporary characteristic of blazars,rather than a permanent one.     

X-ray Emission Lines in GRB Afterglows： Evidence for a Two-component Jet Model

X-ray emission lines have been observed in X-ray afterglows of several γ-ray bursts (GRBs). It is a major breakthrough for understanding the nature of the progenitors. It has been proposed that the X-ray emission lines can be well explained by the Geometry-Dominated models, but in these models the illuminating angle is much larger than that of the collimated jet of the GRB. For GRB 011211, we have obtained an illuminating angle of about θ- 45°, while the angle of the GRB jet is only 3.6°. So we propose that the outflow of GRBs with emission lines should have two distinct components: a wide component that illuminates the reprocessing material and produces the emission lines and a narrow one that produces the GRB. Observations show the energy for producing the emission lines is higher than that of the GRB. In this case, when the wide component dominates the afterglows, a bump should appear in the GRB afterglow. For GRB 011211, the bump should occur within 0.05 days of the GRB, which is obviously too early for the observation to catch it. Alongside the X-ray emission lines there should also be a bright emission component between the UV and the soft X-rays. These features can be tested by the Swift satellite in the near future.     

A brief report on the statistical study of net electric current in solar active regions with longitudinal fields of opposite polarity

Dynamic processes occurring in solar active regions are dominated by the solar magnetic field. As of now, observations using a solar magnetograph have supplied us with the vector components of a solar photospheric magnetic field. The two transverse components of a photospheric magnetic field allow us to compute the amount of electric current. We found that the electric current in areas with positive (negative) polarity due to the longitudinal magnetic field have both positive and negative signs in an active region, however, the net current is found to be an order-of-magnitude less than the mean absolute magnitude and has a preferred sign. In particular, we have statistically found that there is a systematic net electric current from areas with negative (positive) polarity to areas with positive (negative) polarity in solar active regions in the northern (southern) hemisphere, but during the solar minimum this tendency is reversed over time at some latitudes. The result indicates that there is weak net electric current in areas of solar active regions with opposite polarity, thus providing further details about the hemispheric helicity rule found in a series of previous studies.