On the Light Curves of GRB Afterglows

We present gamma-ray burst afterglow light curves in X-ray, optical and radio bands for various distributions of accelerated electrons behind the shock. The effects of lateral expansion of the jet and of winds in typical Wolf-Rayet star on the evolution are discussed. The light curves in the radiative case decline more rapidly than those in the adiabatic case. Under the combined effect of jet expansion and wind environment, the light curves have the greatest deviation from those of the standard model. All these results refer to the relativistic phase.     

Cylindrical Jet—Wind interaction Model of Gamma—Ray Burst Afterglows

Observations on relativistic jets in radio galaxies, active galactic nuclei, and "microquasars" revealed that many of these outflows are cylindrical, not conical. So it is worthwhile to investigate the evolution of cylindrical jets in gamma-ray bursts. We discuss afterglows from cylindrical jets in a wind environment. Numerical results as well as analytic solutions in some special cases are presented. Our light curves are steeper compared to those in the homogeneous interstellar medium case, carefully considered by Cheng, Huang & Lu. We conclude that some afterglows, used to be interpreted as isotropic fireballs in a wind environment, can be fitted as well by cylindrical jets interacting with a wind.     

Polarization in Gamma-Ray Bursts Produced by Pinch Discharge

Large-voltage, high-temperature plasma columns produced by pinch discharge can generate γ-ray flashes with energy spectra and spectral evolution consistent with what are observed in γ-ray bursts (GRBs), and the inverse Compton scattering (ICS) during the discharge process can produce high linear polarization. Our calculation indicates that the observed polarization depends on the angle between the line-of-sight todischarge, but only weakly depends onthe GRB and the direction of the pinch discharge, but only weakly depends on observed γray energy.     

A Restriction on the Duration and Peak Energy of Gamma-Ray Bursts

Two dimensional distributions of T90 versus Epeak(or Ebreak)for three bright GRB samples have been investigated.The result shows that although both T90 and Epeak(or Ebreak) each span over a wide range,they are restricted to the region log(T90)≤－log(Epeak) 5.24.This cannot be explained by the current fireball model.It may represent a constraint on the fireball model.     

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.     

强磁场中相对论电子系集体的共振逆康普顿散射谱

强磁场中相对论电子的共振逆康普顿散射(RICS)是产生伽玛射线的有效机制.以前的工作曾论证,伽玛暴(GRB)的早期伽玛射线辐射可能主要由该机制产生.利用此辐射机制,伽玛暴研究中的一些困惑有可能得到较好的解释.例如,观测统计给出的"Amati关系"的起源,两段式(折断式)幂律谱的形成,特别是其中"死线问题"的解决方案,还有偏振的存在等.这里将重点讨论折断幂律谱形成问题.基于单个电子的RICS谱功率公式,导出了强磁场中大量相对论电子穿过周边低频辐射场时产生的集体RICS辐射谱(RICS谱光度)的简化解析公式,并将它应用于中子星周边几种典型的低频场(如黑体辐射场、幂律辐射场以及热轫致辐射场),以便与实际观测谱形比较.计算表明:在满足匹配条件(即近似共振条件)下,RICS辐射效率很高,其谱形普遍为两段式的幂律谱形式,与周边低频场性质无关.还论证RICS机制可能是伽玛暴、软伽玛重复暴和伽玛射线脉冲星在高能射线波段(硬X射线和伽玛射线)的一个理想的高效辐射机制.     

Spectral Reversal and Stratification of the Jet in 3C 273

Quasi-simultaneous VLBI observations at 15-86 GHz have shown that in the classical superluminal radio source 3C 273, the spectral index α(Sv∝v^α) has a systematic variation along the jet. For epoch 1995.15, a spectral reversal was observed at core distance -1.5mas, where the superluminal knot C12 Located. Similarly, for epoch 1997.18, two spectral reversals wrer observed at core distances of -1.8 mas and -4.2 mas ,where superluminal knots C11 and C14 were, respectively. These spectral reversals are associated with local maxima of the jet width. We suggest that this phenomenon may be related to a stratification of the jet structure, i.e., its physical parameters (flow velocity, Doppler factor, electron density and energy, magnetic field strength,etc.) are substantially dependent on the distance from the jet axis. These properties may be naturally formed through gasdynamic processes when the jet expands into a lower pressure ambient medium.     

具平缓电子能谱的伽玛射线暴的解析光变曲线

在标准的伽玛暴余辉模型中,电子通过费米一级加速后形成单幂律能谱分布dn/dγe∝γe-p(p≈2.3),但在某些伽玛暴事件中观测到了平缓的电子能谱分布(即p＜2).在单幂律谱和分段幂律谱两种情况下,分别给出了具有平缓电子能谱的伽玛暴余辉的解析光变曲线,并以GRB 060908为例进行了讨论.同时提出了伽玛暴低能谱危机的...     

变化磁场中相对论电子系集体的共振逆康普顿散射谱

强磁场中的共振逆康普顿散射(RICS)是产生伽玛射线的有效机制．在前文工作的基础上，导出强磁场中子星中具有幂律能谱的大量相对论电子沿中子星磁轴向外运动时在变化磁场中产生的集体RICS辐射谱(RICS谱光度)的基本公式．由此得到在中子星周边几种典型的低频辐射场中集体RICS辐射谱形的简单解析表示(如热轫致辐射场、黑体辐射场，以及非热低频幂律谱辐射场)，以便与实际观测谱形比较．计算表明：在满足匹配条件(即近似共振条件)下，RICS辐射效率很高，其谱形都是两段式(折断的)的幂律谱形式，与周边低频场性质无关．通过计算，再一次论证RICS机制是伽玛射线脉冲星和伽玛暴(GRBs)在高能射线段(硬X-射线和伽玛射线)辐射的一个理想的高效辐射机制。     

Periodic Variations of the Jet Flow Lorentz Factor in 3C 273

1 INTRODUCTIONThe quasar 3C 273 (z = 0.158) is one of the classical rwho sources showal apparellt superltalnal motion (Zensus et al. 1990, 1997). It has a large-scale jet (~ 20n of length, 3C273A)elliltting at radio, optical and X-ray bands. It has been suggested that its compel source(3C 273B) is a rmm-blazar, Undergoing strong and rapid Variations in ratio, optical-UV, X-rayand 7-my bands at various tab scales (from hours to years, Courvoisier et al. 1998, Tet al. 1999, Stevens et …     

The Synchrotron-self-Compton Radiation Accompanying Shallow Decaying X-Ray Afterglow： the Case of GRB 940217

High energy emission (> tens MeV) of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) provides an important clue on the physical processes occurring in GRBs that may be correlated with the GRB early afterglow. A shallow decline phase has been well identified in about half of Swift Gamma-ray Burst X-ray afterglows. The widely considered interpretation involves a significant energy injection and possibly time-evolving shock parameter(s). We calculate the synchrotron-self-Compton (SSC) radiation of such an external forward shock and show that it could explain the well-known long term high energy (i.e., tens MeV to GeV) afterglow of GRB 940217. We propose that cooperation of Swift and GLAST will help to reveal the nature of GRBs.     

Evidence for chromatic X-ray light-curve breaks in Swift gamma-ray burst afterglows and their theoretical implications

The power-law decay of the X-ray emission of gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows 050319, 050401, 050607, 050713A, 050802 and 050922C exhibits a steepening at about 1–4 h after the burst which, surprisingly, is not accompanied by a break in the optical emission. If it is assumed that both the optical and X-ray afterglows arise from the same outflow then, in the framework of the standard forward shock model, the chromaticity of the X-ray light-curve breaks indicates that they do not arise solely from a mechanism related to the outflow dynamics (e.g. energy injection) or the angular distribution of the blast-wave kinetic energy (structured outflows or jets). The lack of a spectral evolution accompanying the X-ray light-curve break shows that these breaks do not arise from the passage of a spectral break (e.g. the cooling frequency) either. Under these circumstances, the decoupling of the X-ray and optical decays requires that the microphysical parameters for the electron and magnetic energies in the forward shock evolve in time, whether the X-ray afterglow is synchrotron or inverse-Compton emission. For a steady evolution of these parameters with the Lorentz factor of the forward shock and an X-ray light curve arising cessation of energy injection into the blast wave, the optical and X-ray properties of the above six Swift afterglows require a circumburst medium with a r ⁻² radial stratification, as expected for a massive star origin for long GRBs. Alternatively, the chromatic X-ray light-curve breaks may indicate that the optical and X-ray emissions arise from different outflows. Neither feature (evolution of microphysical parameters or the different origin of the optical and X-ray emissions) was clearly required by pre-Swift afterglows.     

Ring-Shaped Jets in Gamma-Ray Bursts

When the axis of a gamma-ray burst (GRB) does not coincide with the spin axis of its source, there may result a ring-shaped jet. Using some refined jet dynamics, we calculate multi-wavelength afterglow light curves for such ring-shaped jets. In the R-band we find an obvious break in the afterglow light curve due to the beaming effect and the break is affected by many parameters, such as the electron energy fraction ξe, the magnetic energy fraction ξ2B, the width of ring A0 and the medium number density n. The overall light curve can be divided into three power-law stages, I.e., an ultra-relativistic stage, an after-break stage and a deep Newtonian stage. For each stage the power-law index is larger in the ring-shaped jet than in the corresponding conical jet.     

Observational limits on inverse Compton processes in gamma-ray bursts

Inverse Compton (IC) scattering is one of two viable mechanisms that can produce prompt non-thermal soft gamma-ray emission in gamma-ray bursts. IC requires low-energy seed photons and a population of relativistic electrons that upscatter them. The same electrons will upscatter the gamma-ray photons to even higher energies in the TeV range. Using the current upper limits on the prompt optical emission, we show that under general conservative assumption the IC mechanism suffers from an 'energy crisis'. Namely, IC will overproduce a very high energy component that would carry much more energy than the observed prompt gamma-rays, or alternatively it will require a low-energy seed that is more energetic than the prompt gamma-rays. Our analysis is general, and it makes no assumptions on the specific mechanism that produces the relativistic electron population.     

Polarization evolution accompanying the very early sharp decline of gamma-ray burst X-ray afterglows

In the synchrotron radiation model, the polarization property depends on both the configuration of the magnetic field and the geometry of the visible emitting region. Some peculiar behaviours in the X-ray afterglows of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) observed with Swift , such as energetic flares and a plateau followed by a sharp drop, might be highly linearly polarized because the outflows powering these behaviours may be dominated by Poynting flux. The breakdown of the symmetry of the visible emitting region may also be well hidden in the peculiar X-ray data and may give rise to interesting polarization signatures. In this paper, we focus on the polarization accompanying the very early sharp decline of GRB X-ray afterglows. We show that strong polarization evolution is possible in both the high latitude emission model and the dying central engine model, which are used to interpret this sharp X-ray decline. It is thus not easy to efficiently probe the physical origin of the very early X-ray sharp decline with future polarimetry. Strong polarization evolution is also possible in the decline phase of X-ray flares and in the shallow decline phase of X-ray light curves characterized by chromatic X-ray versus optical breaks. A detector such as the X-ray Telescope (XRT), but with polarization capability, on board a satellite like Swift would be suitable for testing our predictions.