1,368 research outputs found
Searching Signals in Chinese Ancient Records for the C Increases in AD 774-775 and in AD 992-993
According to the analysis of the C content of two Japanese trees over
a period of approximately 3000 years at high time resolution, Miyake (2012)
found a rapid increase at AD 774-775 and later on at AD 992-993 (Miyake 2013).
This corresponds to a high-energy event happened within one year that input
-ray energy about 710erg to the Earth, leaving the
origin a mystery. Such strong event should have an unusual optical counterpart,
and have been recorded in historical literature. We searched Chinese historical
materials around AD 744-775 and AD 992-993, but no remarkable event was found
except a violent thunderstorm in AD 775. However, the possibility of a
thunderstorm containing so much energy is still unlikely. We conclude the event
caused the C increase is still unclear. This event most probably has no
optical counterpart, and short gamma-ray burst, giant flare of a soft gamma-ray
repeater and terrestrial -ray flash may all be the candidates.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure
Expected high energy emission from GRB 080319B and origins of the GeV emission of GRBs 080514B, 080916C and 081024B
We calculate the high energy (sub-GeV to TeV) prompt and afterglow emission
of GRB 080319B that was distinguished by a naked-eye optical flash and by an
unusual strong early X-ray afterglow. There are three possible sources for high
energy emission: the prompt optical and -ray photons IC scattered by
the accelerated electrons, the prompt photons IC scattered by the early
external reverse-forward shock electrons, and the higher band of the
synchrotron and the synchrotron self-Compton emission of the external shock.
There should have been in total {hundreds} high energy photons detectable for
the Large Area Telescope (LAT) onboard the Fermi satellite, and {tens} photons
of those with energy GeV. The GeV emission had a duration about
twice that of the soft -rays. AGILE could have observed these energetic
signals if it was not occulted by the Earth at that moment. The physical
origins of the high energy emission detected in GRB 080514B, GRB 080916C and
GRB 081024B are also discussed. These observations seem to be consistent with
the current high energy emission models.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS, the interpretation of GRB 080916C
has been extended, main conclusions are unchange
Constraining the bulk Lorentz factor from the photosphere emission
We propose a direct and model-independent method to constrain the Lorentz
factor of a relativistically expanding object, like gamma-ray bursts. Only the
measurements, such as thermal component of the emission, the distance and the
variable time scale of the light curve, are used. If the uncertainties are
considered, we will obtain lower limits of the Lorentz factor instead. We apply
this method to GRB 090618 and get a lower limit of the Lorentz factor to be 22.
The method can be used to any relativistically moving object, such as gamma-ray
bursts, blazars, and soft gamma-ray repeaters, providing the thermal component
of the emission being observed.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figur
Constraining the Mass of the Photon with Gamma-Ray Bursts
One of the cornerstones of modern physics is Einstein's special relativity,
with its constant speed of light and zero photon mass assumptions. Constraint
on the rest mass m_{\gamma} of photons is a fundamental way to test Einstein's
theory, as well as other essential electromagnetic and particle theories. Since
non-zero photon mass can give rise to frequency-(or energy-) dependent
dispersions, measuring the time delay of photons with different frequencies
emitted from explosive astrophysical events is an important and
model-independent method to put such a constraint. The cosmological gamma-ray
bursts (GRBs), with short time scales, high redshifts as well as broadband
prompt and afterglow emissions, provide an ideal testbed for m_{\gamma}
constraints. In this paper we calculate the upper limits of the photon mass
with GRB early time radio afterglow observations as well as multi-band radio
peaks, thus improve the results of Schaefer (1999) by nearly half an order of
magnitude.Comment: 25 pages, 2 tables, Accepted by Journal of High Energy Astrophysic
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