Was GRB 990123 a unique optical flash?

GRB 990123 was a long, complex gamma-ray burst accompanied by an extremely bright optical flash. We find different constraints on the bulk Lorentz of this burst to be consistent with the speculation that the optical light is emission from the reverse shock component of the external shock. Motivated by this currently favoured idea, we compute the prompt reverse shock emission to be expected for bursts in which multiwavelength observations allow the physical parameters to be constrained. We find that for reasonable assumptions about the velocity of source expansion, a strong optical flash  m_V≈9  was expected from the reverse shocks, which were usually found to be mildly relativistic. The best observational prospects for detecting these prompt flashes are highlighted, along with the possible reasons for the absence of optical prompt detections in ongoing observations.     

A possible explanation for the radio afterglow of GRB 980519: the dense medium effect

GRB 980519 is characterized by its rapidly declining optical and X-ray afterglows. Explanations of this behaviour include models invoking a dense medium environment, which makes the shock wave evolve quickly into the subrelativistic phase, a jet-like outflow, and a wind-shaped circumburst medium environment. Recently, Frail et al. found that the latter two cases are consistent with the radio afterglow of this burst. Here, by considering the transrelativistic shock hydrodynamics, we show that the dense medium model can also account for the radio light curve quite well. The potential virtue of the dense medium model for GRB 980519 is that it implies a smaller angular size of the afterglow, which is essential for interpreting the strong modulation of the radio light curve. Optical extinction arising from the dense medium is not important if the prompt optical–UV flash accompanying the γ -ray emission can destroy dust by sublimation out to an appreciable distance. Comparisons with some other radio afterglows are also discussed.     

A unified picture for the γ-ray and prompt optical emissions of GRB 990123

The prompt optical emission of GRB 990123 was uncorrelated to the γ-ray light curve and exhibited temporal properties similar to those of the steeply decaying, early X-ray emission observed by Swift at the end of many bursts. These facts suggest that the optical counterpart of GRB 990123 was the large-angle emission released during (the second pulse of) the burst. If the optical and γ-ray emissions of GRB 990123 have, indeed, the same origin then their properties require that (i) the optical counterpart was synchrotron emission and γ-rays arose from inverse-Compton scatterings (the 'synchrotron self-Compton model'), (ii) the peak energy of the optical-synchrotron component was at ∼20 eV and (iii) the burst emission was produced by a relativistic outflow moving at Lorentz factor  ≳450  and at a radius  ≳10¹⁵  cm, which is comparable to the outflow deceleration radius. Because the spectrum of GRB 990123 was optically thin above 2 keV, the magnetic field behind the shock must have decayed on a length-scale of  ≲1  per cent  of the thickness of the shocked gas, which corresponds to  10⁶–10⁷  plasma skin depths. Consistency of the optical counterpart decay rate and its spectral slope (or that of the burst, if they represent different spectral components) with the expectations for the large-angle burst emission represents the most direct test of the unifying picture proposed here for GRB 990123.     

Can the early X-ray afterglow of gamma-ray bursts be explained by a contribution from the reverse shock?

We propose to explain the recent observations of gamma-ray burst early X-ray afterglows with SWIFT by the dissipation of energy in the reverse shock that crosses the ejecta as it is decelerated by the burst environment. We compute the evolution of the dissipated power and discuss the possibility that a fraction of it can be radiated in the X-ray range. We show that this reverse shock contribution behaves in a way very similar to the observed X-ray afterglows if the following two conditions are satisfied. (i) The Lorentz factor of the material which is ejected during the late stages of source activity decreases to small values  Γ < 10  and (ii) a large part of the shock-dissipated energy is transferred to a small fraction  (ζ≲ 10⁻²)  of the electron population. We also discuss how our results may help to solve some puzzling problems raised by multiwavelength early afterglow observations such as the presence of chromatic breaks.     

Optical observations of GRB 050401 afterglow : a case for double-jet model

The afterglow of GRB 050401 presents several novel and interesting features. (i) An initially faster decay in optical band than in X-rays. (ii) A break in the X-ray light curve after ∼0.06 d with an unusual slope after the break. (iii)The X-ray afterglow does not show any spectral evolution across the break while the R -band light curve does not show any break. We have modelled the observed multiband evolution of the afterglow of GRB 050401 as originating in a two-component jet, and interpreting the break in X-ray light curve as due to lateral expansion of a narrow collimated outflow which dominates the X-ray emission. The optical emission is attributed to a wider jet component. Our model reproduces all the observed features of multiband afterglow of GRB 050401. We present optical observations of GRB 050401 using the 104-cm Sampurnanand Telescope at the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), Nainital. Results of the analysis of multiband data are presented and compared with GRB 030329, the first reported case of double jet.     

Hydrodynamic Evolution of GRB Afterglow

1 INTRODUCTIONMom the detection at X-rap optical and radio wavelengths of ganuna-ray bursts (GRBs)since 1997 (Costa et al. 1997; van Paradijs et al. 1997; Sahu et al. 1997; Djorgovsld et al. 1997;Metzger et al. 1997; Frail et al. 1997; Taylor et al. 1997; Kulforni et al. 1998; Halpern et al.1998; Castro-Tirado et al. 1999; Kulkalni et al. 1999; Galama et al. 1999), we have come toknow that the GRBs can release 1051 ~ 1054 ergs in a few seconds and that the fireball modelcan describ…     

X-ray flares, plateaus and chromatic breaks of GRB afterglows from up-scattered forward-shock emission

Scattering of the forward-shock synchrotron emission by a relativistic outflow located behind the leading blast wave may produce an X-ray emission brighter than that coming directly from the forward shock and may explain four features displayed by Swift X-ray afterglows: flares, plateaus (slow decays), chromatic light-curve breaks and fast post-plateau decays. For a cold scattering outflow, the reflected flux overshines the primary one if the scattering outflow is nearly baryon-free and highly relativistic. These two requirements can be relaxed if the scattering outflow is energized by weak internal shocks, so that the incident forward-shock photons are also inverse-Compton scattered, in addition to bulk scattering. Sweeping-up of the photons left behind by the forward shock naturally yields short X-ray flares. Owing to the boost in photon energy produced by bulk scattering, the reflected emission is more likely to overshine that coming directly from the forward shock at higher photon energies, yielding light-curve plateaus and breaks that appear only in the X-ray. The brightness, shape and decay of the X-ray light-curve plateau depend on the radial distribution of the scatterer's Lorentz factor and mass flux. Chromatic X-ray light-curve breaks and sharp post-plateau decays cannot be accommodated by the direct forward-shock emission and argue in favour of the scattering-outflow model proposed here. On the other hand, the X-ray afterglows without plateaus, those with achromatic breaks and those with very long lived power-law decays are more naturally accommodated by the standard forward-shock model. Thus, the diversity of X-ray light curves arises from the interplay of the scattered and direct forward-shock emissions.     

Gamma-ray burst afterglow scaling coefficients for general density profiles

Gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows are well described by synchrotron emission originating from the interaction between a relativistic blast wave and the external medium surrounding the GRB progenitor. We introduce a code to reconstruct spectra and light curves from arbitrary fluid configurations, making it especially suited to study the effects of fluid flows beyond those that can be described using analytical approximations. As a check and first application of our code, we use it to fit the scaling coefficients of theoretical models of afterglow spectra. We extend earlier results of other authors to general circumburst density profiles. We rederive the physical parameters of GRB 970508 and compare with other authors.     

A unified treatment of the gamma-ray burst 021211 and its afterglow

The gamma-ray burst (GRB) 021211 had a simple light curve, containing only one peak and the expected Poisson fluctuations. Such a burst may be attributed to an external shock, offering the best chance for a unified understanding of the gamma-ray burst and afterglow emissions. We analyse the properties of the prompt (burst) and delayed (afterglow) emissions of GRB 021211 within the fireball model. Consistency between the optical emission during the first 11 min (which, presumably, comes from the reverse shock heating of the ejecta) and the later afterglow emission (arising from the forward shock) requires that, at the onset of deceleration (∼2 s), the energy density in the magnetic field in the ejecta, expressed as a fraction of the equipartition value  (ɛ _B )  , is larger than in the forward shock at 11 min by a factor of approximately 10³. We find that synchrotron radiation from the forward shock can account for the gamma-ray emission of GRB 021211; to explain the observed GRB peak flux requires that, at 2 s,  ɛ _B   in the forward shock is larger by a factor 100 than at 11 min. These results suggest that the magnetic field in the reverse shock and early forward shock is a frozen-in field originating in the explosion and that most of the energy in the explosion was initially stored in the magnetic field. We can rule out the possibility that the ejecta from the burst for GRB 021211 contained more than 10 electron–positron pairs per proton.