Failed gamma-ray bursts and orphan afterglows

It is believed that orphan afterglow searches can help to measure the beaming angle in gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Great expectations have been put on this method. We point out that the method is in fact not as simple as we originally expected. As a result of the baryon-rich environment that is common to almost all popular progenitor models, there should be many failed gamma-ray bursts, i.e. fireballs with Lorentz factor much less than  100–1000  , but still much larger than unity. In fact, the number of failed gamma-ray bursts may even be much larger than that of successful bursts. Owing to the existence of these failed gamma-ray bursts, there should be many orphan afterglows even if GRBs are due to isotropic fireballs, then the simple discovery of orphan afterglows never means that GRBs are collimated. Unfortunately, to distinguish between a failed-GRB orphan and a jetted but off-axis GRB orphan is not an easy task. The major problem is that the trigger time is unknown. Some possible solutions to the problem are suggested.     

Observations of soft gamma-ray or hard X-ray bursts in the GRIF experiment on the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Mir</Emphasis> orbiting station

During the GRIF experiment onboard the Mir orbiting station, the sky was monitored with a PX-2 wide-field (～1 sr) scintillation X-ray spectrometer to detect bursts in the photon energy range 10–300 keV. Because of the comprehensive instrumentation, which, apart from the X-ray and gamma-ray instruments, also included charged-particle detectors, the imitations of astrophysical bursts by magnetospheric electron precipitations and strongly ionizing nuclei were effectively filtered out. It was also possible to separate solar and atmospheric events. Several tens of bursts interpreted as being astrophysical were detected in the experiment at sensitivity levels S～10^?7 erg cm^?2 (for bursts whose spectra were characterized by effective temperatures kT～100 keV) and S～3×10^?8 erg cm^?2 (for bursts with kT～25 keV). Some of the soft gamma-ray or hard X-ray bursts with kT～10–50 keV were identified with the bursting pulsar GRO J1744-28. Our estimate of the detection rate for cosmological soft gamma-ray or hard X-ray bursts from the entire sky suggests that the distributions of long-duration (>1 s) gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) in characteristic energy kT and duration are inconsistent with the steady-state cosmological model in which the evolution of burst sources is disregarded. Based on GRIF and BATSE/CGRO data, we conclude that most of the GRB sources originate at redshifts 1<z<5.     

Detection of pseudo gamma-ray bursts of long duration

It is known that the counting rate of both Nai and Csi hard X-ray detectors can have intense enhancements of brief (<1 s) duration, which appear like very short cosmic gamma-ray bursts but probably are due to phosphorescence in the detector itself. Unfortunately, this problem is not limited to short bursts. We present here three much longer (up to 80 s) pseudo-gamma-ray bursts observed during a transatlantic ballon flight. We conclude that detections of gamma-ray bursts (and probably also of hard X-ray source flares) based only on a rate increase by a single scintillator should always be confirmed by at least one other instrument.Paper presented at the Symposium on Cosmic Gamma-Ray Bursts held at Toulouse, France, 26–29 November, 1979.     

伽玛射线暴:各向同性火球还是柱形喷流?

多数伽玛射线暴的光学余辉衰减较平缓且光变曲线未见明显拐折，通常认为它们产生于各向同性火球，GRBs970228,970508,971214,980329及980703等就是典型的例子，但柱型喷流模型其实也能对这类伽玛射线暴的余辉给出极好的拟合，因此它们完全有可能产生于柱形喷流，而并非一定是来自各向同性火球。     

Are gamma-ray bursts due to isotropic fireballs or cylindrical jets?

Afterglows from most gamma-ray bursts, such as GRBs 970228, 970508, 971214, 980329 and 980703, decay slowly and steadily. These bursts are widely believed to be due to isotropic fireballs. However, they in fact can also be well fitted by a cylindrical jet model. It is proposed that these bursts are probably generated by cylindrical jets, and not necessarily by isotropic fireballs.     

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.     

Short gamma-ray bursts in the SPI-ACS INTEGRAL experiment

We analyze short-duration gamma-ray bursts (T ₉₀<2 s) recorded in the SPI-ACS experiment of the INTEGRAL observatory. We found an extended emission in the averaged light curve of both short-duration gamma-ray bursts and unidentified short-duration events. We show that the fraction of short-duration gamma-ray bursts among all the gamma-ray bursts recorded in the SPI-ACS experiment may be as high as 30 to 45%. We find the fraction of short gamma-ray bursts to augment while increasing the lower energy threshold. We report evidence for the absence of the class of very short gamma-ray bursts.     

Bimodal distribution of short gamma-ray bursts: Evidence for two distinct types of short gamma-ray bursts

GRB 170817A was confirmed to be associated with GW170817, which was produced by a neutron star - neutron star merger. It indicates that at least some short gamma-ray bursts come from binary neutron star mergers. Theoretically, it is widely accepted that short gamma-ray bursts can be produced by two distinctly different mechanisms, binary neutron star mergers and neutron star - black hole mergers. These two kinds of bursts should be different observationally due to their different trigger mechanisms. Motivated by this idea, we collect a universal data set constituted of 51 short gamma-ray bursts observed by Swift/BAT, among which 14 events have extended emission component. We study the observational features of these 51 events statistically. It is found that our samples consist of two distinct groups. They clearly show a bimodal distribution when their peak photon fluxes at 15–150 keV band are plotted against the corresponding fluences. Most interestingly, all the 14 short bursts with extended emission lie in a particular region of this plot. When the fluences are plotted against the burst durations, short bursts with extended emission again tend to concentrate in the long duration segment. These features strongly indicate that short gamma-ray bursts really may come from two distinct types of progenitors. We argue that those short gamma-ray bursts with extended emission come from the coalescence of neutron stars, while the short gamma-ray bursts without extended emission come from neutron star - black hole mergers.     

Gamma-ray bursts observed from the Hinotori satellite

During February, 1981 and June, 1982 the gamma-ray and the hard X-ray spectrometers on the Hinotori satellite observed four gamma-ray bursts on 28 February, 21 July, 1981, 26 February and 13 March, 1982. These gamma-ray bursts were simultaneously observed by other satellites. The time histories and energy spectra are shown for these gamma-ray bursts, and the burst sizes (erg cm^–2) are estimated. Two possible source locations for the burst of 21 July, 1981 are roughly determined from arrival time delays between two pairs of satellites, PVO-Hinotori and ISEE-3-Hinotori. The weak gamma-ray line peak structure around 1.8 MeV was observed for the burst of 13 March, 1982. The line could be interpreted in terms of gravitationally redshifted neutron capture line at 2.22 MeV.     

Theories of gamma-ray burst sources

A review of recent theoretical work on gamma-ray bursts is given. The emphasis is put on the localization of sources. It is concluded that sources of gamma-ray bursts must be either old Population I or Population II objects with a mechanism implying that the sources are not too far from the galactic plane. According to this conclusion the more relevant models are probably flare stars or accretion on old neutron stars, radiation of the gravitational energy of the accretion, or thermonuclear explosions.Paper presented at the Symposium on Cosmic Gamma-Ray Bursts, held at Toulouse, France, 26–29 November, 1979.     

“Isotopic footprints” of gamma-ray and proton events and anomalous signal in radiocarbon in 775 AD

The production of the cosmogenic radionuclides ¹⁴C, ¹⁰Be, and ³⁶Cl in the Earth’s atmosphere under the action of powerful impulsive proton and gamma-ray events (superpowerful solar flares and Galactic gamma-ray bursts) is considered. The possible “isotopic footprint” in natural archives (the concentrations of these isotopes in dated polar ice cores and annual tree rings) has been calculated by taking into account geophysical processes. The results obtained have been applied to analyzing the anomalous increase in the concentration of radiocarbon measured in tree rings dated 774–775 AD. Arguments for the fact that the most likely cause of this increase is the high-energy emission from a Galactic gamma-ray burst are adduced.     

Precessing jets interacting with interstellar material as the origin for the light curves of gamma-ray bursts

We present an internal shock model with external characteristics for explaining the complicated light curves of gamma-ray bursts. Shocks produce gamma-rays in the interaction between a precessing beam of relativistic particles and the interstellar medium. Each time the particle beam passes the same line of sight with the observer the interstellar medium is pushed outward. Subsequent interactions between the medium and the beam are delayed by the extra distance to be travelled for the particles before the shock can form. This results in a natural retardation and leads to an intrinsic asymmetry in the light curves produced for gamma-ray bursts. In addition, we account for the cooling of the electron–proton plasma in the shocked region, which gives rise to an exponential decay in the gamma-ray flux. The combination of these effects and the precessing jet of ultrarelativistic particles produces light curves that can be directly compared with observed gamma-ray burst light curves. We illustrate the model by fitting a number of observed gamma-ray bursts that are difficult to explain with only a precessing jet. We develop a genetic algorithm to fit several observed gamma-ray bursts with remarkable accuracy. We find that for different bursts the observed fluence, assuming isotropic emission, easily varies over four orders of magnitude from the energy generated intrinsically.     

两类γ暴的谱形和光变曲线的统计差异

使用currentBATSE catakog中的一部分数据，定义了2个分别反映γ射线暴的能谱形和光变曲线的物理量FR和TR，同时对它们的分布作了统计分析，发现对于两类不同的γ射线暴，它们的分布存在统计上的较为明显的差异。这意味着两类暴可能产生于不同的辐射区域，两类暴的暴源可能有本质的差异，这些结果支持了把γ射线暴分为长暴和短暴的分类方法。     

Early afterglows of short gamma-ray bursts

In the relativistic fireball model, the afterglow of a gamma-ray burst (GRB) is produced by synchrotron radiation of the electrons accelerated in the external shock that emerges as the relativistic flow moves. According to this model, the afterglow peaks on a time scale of ～10 s when observed in the soft gamma-ray band. The peak flux can be high enough to be detected by modern all-sky monitors. We investigate the emission from short (ΔT<1 s) GRBs on a time scale t≈10 s using BATSE/CGRO data. A significant flux is recorded for ～20% of the events. In most cases, the observed persistent emission can be explained in terms of the model as an early burst afterglow. No early afterglows of most short GRBs are observed. The model parameters for these bursts are constrained.     

A review of recent results from the Franco-Soviet SIGNE gamma-burst experiments

The three-satellite SIGNE network has observed 26 confirmed gamma-ray bursts in the period September 1978–June 1979. Burst time histories may be used to define several classes of events, with a strong resemblance between events in a given class, but different arrival directions. The spectra of two gamma-ray bursts have been found to evolve from shapes which turn over at low energy during the start of the event, to near power law spectra at the end of the event.Paper presented at the Symposium on Cosmic Gamma-Ray Bursts held at Toulouse, France, 26–29 November, 1979.     

Gamma-ray bursts with peculiar temporal asymmetry

Based on Link & Epstein's study of temporal asymmetry of 631 gamma-ray bursts from the BATSE 3B catalogue, we identify the population of bursts with rising times that are longer than their decays, thus showing atypical profiles. We analyse their sky distribution, morphology, time–space clustering and other average properties and compare them with those associated with the bulk of the bursts. We show how most of the peculiar bursts analysed are consistent with recent fireball models, but a fraction of bursts (∼4 per cent of the total sample) appear to be inconsistent.     

Analysis of COMPTEL gamma-ray burst locations and spectra

In its first three years of operation, the COMPTEL instrument on theCompton Gamma-Ray Observatory has measured the locations (mean accuracy 1°) and spectra (0.75-30 MeV) of 18 gamma-ray bursts and continues to observe new events at a rate of 1/month. With good angular resolution and sensitivity at MeV energies, the growing COMPTEL burst catalog is an important new piece of evidence in the on-going GRB mystery. The COMPTEL burst locations are consistent with an isotropic distribution of sources, yet the spatial coincidence of two of the bursts indicates the possibility of repetition. The COMPTEL burst spectra are in most cases consistent with a single power law model with spectral index in the range 2–3. However, two bursts show evidence of a spectral break in the MeV range. Measurement of rapid variability at MeV energies in the stronger bursts provides evidence that either the sources are nearby (within the Galaxy) or the gamma-ray emission is relativistically beamed. We present an overview of analysis results obtained from the COMPTEL burst catalog concentrating on the search for burst repetition and the implications of highly variable MeV emission.     

Radio precursors to neutron star binary mergings

We discuss a possible generation of radio bursts preceding final stages of binary neutron star mergings which can be accompanied by short gamma-ray bursts. Detection of such bursts appear to be advantageous in the low-frequency radio band due to a time delay of ten to several hundred seconds required for radio signal to propagate in the ionized intergalactic medium. This delay makes it possible to use short gamma-ray burst alerts to promptly monitor specific regions on the sky by low-frequency radio facilities, especially by LOFAR. To estimate the strength of the radio signal, we assume a power-law dependence of the radio luminosity on the total energy release in a magnetically dominated outflow, as found in millisecond pulsars. Based on the planned LOFAR sensitivity at 120 MHz, we estimate that the LOFAR detection rate of such radio transients could be about several events per month from redshifts up to z∼1.3 in the most optimistic scenario. The LOFAR ability to detect such events would crucially depend on exact efficiency of low-frequency radio emission mechanism.     

Observations of cosmic gamma-ray bursts with the main detector of the SIGMA telescope onboard the Granat Observatory

We present the observations of cosmic gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) with the main detector of the SIGMA telescope onboard the Granat Observatory from January 1990 through September 1994. The observations were carried out in the energy range 35–1300 keV. We detected 36 GRBs and 31 high-energy solar flares during this period. No GRB fell within the main field of view; they were all recorded by the “secondary optics” of the telescope. The SIGMA telescope recorded relatively bright bursts with peak fluxes of 10^?6–10^?4 erg s^?1 cm^?2 in the 100–500-keV energy band. Stable detector background allows the long-term variability of GRB sources on a time scale of ～1000 s to be studied. The results of our search for early afterglows of GRBs are presented. The flux averaged over all bursts in the interval 100–800 s after the main event is 0.36±0.14 counts s^?(35–300 keV), suggesting that there is soft gamma-ray emission on this time scale after a considerable number of GRBs.     

再探伽玛射线暴中能量与脉冲宽度的依赖关系

探索来源于BATSE(http://cossc:gsfc:nasa:gov/batse)的GRB(Gamma-Ray Burst,伽玛射线暴)观测数据的半峰宽度(FWHM)与能量之间的关系,基于64个用KRL函数模型(即,文[1]中的(22)式)能很好地拟合的FRDE(Fast Rise and Exponential Decay,快速上升指数下降)型脉冲样本。发现64个样本中有63个的半峰宽度(FWHM)与能量之间的关系属于平台—幂率—平台型结构或峰型结构。64个样本的半峰宽度(FWHM)与能量之间的关系在观测中可详细分为5种类型:a)有34个样本为幂率形式关系;b)18个样本为低能段平台关系;c)有7个样本为高能段平台关系;d)4个样本为峰型结构关系;e)另外有1个样本为其他结构。结果表明:GRB观测数据的半峰宽度(FWHM)与能量之间的确存在有幂率的关系。此结果进一步确认了文[2](Qin etal 2005)的观点,即半峰宽度(FWHM)与能量之间的关系是由于火球模型的多普勒效应(Doppler effect)导致的。