Short gamma-ray bursts: A review

Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) are rapid, bright flashes of radiation peaking in the gamma-ray band occurring at an average rate of one event per day at cosmological distances. They are characterized by a collimated relativistic outflow pushing through the interstellar medium shining in gamma-rays powered by a central engine. This prompt phase is followed by a fading afterglow emission at longer wavelength, powered in part by the expanding outflow, and in part by continuous energy injection by the central engine. The observed evidences of supernovae associated to long GRBs (those with a duration of the gamma-ray emission > 2 s) brought to a general consensus on indicating the core collapse of massive stars as the progenitor of these events. Following the most accredited model, short GRBs (the events with a duration of the gamma-ray emission ≤ 2 s) originate from the coalescence of compact binary systems (two neutron stars or neutron star-black hole systems). This paper presents a review of the observational properties of short GRBs and shows how the study of these properties can be used as a tool to unveil their elusive progenitors and provide information on the nature of the central engine powering the observed emission. The increasing evidence for compact object binary progenitors makes short GRBs one of the most promising sources of gravitational waves for the forthcoming Advanced LIGO/Virgo experiments

"Spoon-feeding" an AGN

Tidal disruption events (TDEs) occur when a star, passing too close to a massive black hole, is ripped apart by tidal forces. A less dramatic event occurs if the star orbits just outside the tidal radius, resulting in a mild stripping of mass. Thus, if a star orbits a central black hole on one of these bound eccentric orbits, weaker outbursts will occur recurring every orbital period. Thanks to five Swift observations, we observed a recent flare from the close by (92 Mpc) galaxy IC 3599, where a possible TDE was already observed in December 1990 during the Rosat All-Sky Survey. By light curve modeling and spectral fitting, we account for all these events as the non-disruptive tidal stripping of a single star into a 9.5 yr highly eccentric bound orbit. This is the first example of periodic partial tidal disruptions, possibly spoon-feeding the central black hole.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, to appear in "Swift:10 years of discovery", Proceedings of Scienc

A kilonova associated with GRB 070809

For on-axis typical short gamma-ray bursts (sGRBs), the forward shock emission is usually so bright that renders the identification of kilonovae (also known as macronovae) in the early afterglow ($t<0.5$ d) phase rather challenging. This is why previously no thermal-like kilonova component has been identified at such early time except in the off-axis dim GRB 170817A associated with GW170817. Here we report the identification of an unusual optical radiation component in GRB 070809 at $t\sim 0.47$ d, thanks plausibly to the very-weak/subdominant forward shock emission. The optical emission with a very red spectrum is well in excess of the extrapolation of the X-ray emission that is distinguished by an unusually hard spectrum, which is at odds with the forward shock afterglow prediction but can be naturally interpreted as a kilonova. Our finding supports the speculation that kilonovae are ubiquitous , and demonstrates the possibility of revealing the neutron star merger origin with the early afterglow data of some typical sGRBs that take place well beyond the sensitive radius of the advanced gravitational wave detectors and hence the opportunity of organizing dedicated follow-up observations for events of interest.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures, published in Nature Astronom

Searching for Jet Emission in LMXBs: A Polarimetric View

We present results taken from a study aiming at detecting the emission from relativistic particles jets in neutron star-low mass X-ray binaries using optical polarimetric observations. First, we focus on a polarimetric study performed on the persistent LMXB 4U 0614+091. Once corrected for interstellar effects, we measured an intrinsic linear polarization in the r-band of ~3% at a 3σ confidence level. This is in-line with the observation of an infrared excess in the spectral energy distribution (SED) of the source, reported in a previous work, which the authors linked to the optically thin synchrotron emission of a jet. We then present a study performed on the transitional millisecond pulsar PSR J1023+0038 during quiescence. We measured a linear polarization of 1.09 ± 0.27% and 0.90 ± 0.17% in the V and R bands, respectively. The phase-resolved polarimetric curve of the source in the R-band reveals a hint of a sinusoidal modulation at the source orbital period. The NIR -optical SED of the system did not suggest the presence of a jet. We conclude that the optical linear polarization observed for PSR J1023+0038 is possibly due to Thomson scattering with electrons in the disc, as also suggested by the hint of the modulation of the R-band linear polarization at the system orbital period

XMM-Newton observations of IGR J00291+5934: signs of a thermal spectral component during quiescence

We present X-ray observations of the transient accretion-powered millisecond pulsar IGR J00291+5934 during quiescence. IGR J00291+5934 is the first source among accretion powered millisecond pulsars to show signs of a thermal component in its quiescent spectrum. Fitting this component with a neutron star atmosphere or a black body model we obtain soft temperatures (~64 eV and ~110 eV, respectively). As in other sources of this class a hard spectral component is also present, comprising more than 60% of the unabsorbed 0.5-10 keV flux. Interpreting the soft component as cooling emission from the neutron star, we can conclude that the compact object can be spun up to milliscond periods by accreting only <0.2 solar masses.Comment: 5 pages - 2 figures. Accepted for publication on ApJ

Are short Gamma Ray Bursts similar to long ones?

Research supported by PRIN/INAF 2011 "Four steps forward in understanding GRBs"The apparent separation of short and long Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) in the hardness ratio vs duration plot has been considered as a direct evidence of the difference between these two populations. The origin of this diversity, however, has been only confirmed with larger GRB samples but not fully understood. In particular, the hardness ratio is only a proxy of the shape of the spectra of GRBs and itself, together with the observed duration, does not consider the possible different redshift distribution of short and long bursts, which might arise from their different progenitors' nature. By correcting the spectral shape of short and long GRBs for the redshift effects, short GRBs are harder than long ones due to a harder low energy spectral component while the two populations have similar (rest frame) peak energy. In the rest frame, the temporal break of the long/short duration distribution is blurred away and short and long GRBs have a continuous differential duration distribution. Moreover, they show similar luminosities but their energetics differ by a factor proportional to their different average duration. The spectral evolution of long GRBs shows that the initial phase (of the order of 0.3 s rest frame) has similar spectral properties of that of short GRBs. As a consequence, the different hardness at low energies might be due to a prolonged spectral evolution of long GRBs with respect to short ones. Finally, we show that long GRBs can have a null lag similarly to short bursts. Moreover, we find that a considerable fraction of long (and most of short) GRBs are inconsistent with the lag-luminosity relation which could be a boundary in the corresponding plane, rather than a correlation

A magnetar powering the ordinary monster GRB 130427A?

We present the analysis of the extraordinarily bright Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) 130427A under the hypothesis that the GRB central engine is an accretion-powered magnetar. In this framework, initially proposed to explain GRBs with precursor activity, the prompt emission is produced by accretion of matter onto a newly-born magnetar, and the observed power is related to the accretion rate. The emission is eventually halted if the centrifugal forces are able to pause accretion. We show that the X-ray and optical afterglow is well explained as the forward shock emission with a jet break plus a contribution from the spin-down of the magnetar. Our modelling does not require any contribution from the reverse shock, that may still influence the afterglow light curve at radio and mm frequencies, or in the optical at early times. We derive the magnetic field ($B\sim 10^{16}$ G) and the spin period ($P\sim 20$ ms) of the magnetar and obtain an independent estimate of the minimum luminosity for accretion. This minimum luminosity results well below the prompt emission luminosity of GRB 130427A, providing a strong consistency check for the scenario where the entire prompt emission is the result of continuous accretion onto the magnetar. This is in agreement with the relatively long spin period of the magnetar. GRB 130427A was a well monitored GRB showing a very standard behavior and, thus, is a well-suited benchmark to show that an accretion-powered magnetar gives a unique view of the properties of long GRBs.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication in MNRAS Letter

Spectral index-flux relation for investigating the origins of steep decay in γ\gamma-ray bursts

$\gamma$-ray bursts (GRBs) are short-lived transients releasing a large amount of energy ($10^{51}-10^{53}$ erg) in the keV-MeV energy range. GRBs are thought to originate from internal dissipation of the energy carried by ultra-relativistic jets launched by the remnant of a massive star's death or a compact binary coalescence. While thousands of GRBs have been observed over the last thirty years, we still have an incomplete understanding of where and how the radiation is generated in the jet. Here we show a relation between the spectral index and the flux found by investigating the X-ray tails of bright GRB pulses via time-resolved spectral analysis. This relation is incompatible with the long standing scenario which invokes the delayed arrival of photons from high-latitude parts of the jet. While the alternative scenarios cannot be firmly excluded, the adiabatic cooling of the emitting particles is the most plausible explanation for the discovered relation, suggesting a proton-synchrotron origin of the GRB emission.Comment: Published in Nature Communication

New optical and IR counterpart of MAXIJ1816-195

After the new Swift/XRT localization (ATel #15467) of the accreting millisecond X-ray pulsar MAXIJ1816-195 (Atel #15431), on June 25, 2022 (MJD 59755) we observed the field with the 3.6-m Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG) in the optical (g,r,i,z-bands) and in the near-IR (K-band) with the DOLORES and NICS imagers, respectively

The Highly Energetic Expansion of SN2010bh Associated with GRB 100316D

We present the spectroscopic and photometric evolution of the nearby (z = 0.059) spectroscopically confirmed type Ic supernova, SN 2010bh, associated with the soft, long-duration gamma-ray burst (X-ray flash) GRB 100316D. Intensive follow-up observations of SN 2010bh were performed at the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT) using the X-shooter and FORS2 instruments. Owing to the detailed temporal coverage and the extended wavelength range (3000--24800 A), we obtained an unprecedentedly rich spectral sequence among the hypernovae, making SN 2010bh one of the best studied representatives of this SN class. We find that SN 2010bh has a more rapid rise to maximum brightness (8.0 +/- 1.0 rest-frame days) and a fainter absolute peak luminosity (L_bol~3e42 erg/s) than previously observed SN events associated with GRBs. Our estimate of the ejected (56)Ni mass is 0.12 +/- 0.02 Msun. From the broad spectral features we measure expansion velocities up to 47,000 km/s, higher than those of SNe 1998bw (GRB 980425) and 2006aj (GRB 060218). Helium absorption lines He I lambda5876 and He I 1.083 microm, blueshifted by ~20,000--30,000 km/s and ~28,000--38,000 km/s, respectively, may be present in the optical spectra. However, the lack of coverage of the He I 2.058 microm line prevents us from confirming such identifications. The nebular spectrum, taken at ~186 days after the explosion, shows a broad but faint [O I] emission at 6340 A. The light-curve shape and photospheric expansion velocities of SN 2010bh suggest that we witnessed a highly energetic explosion with a small ejected mass (E_k ~ 1e52 erg and M_ej ~ 3 Msun). The observed properties of SN 2010bh further extend the heterogeneity of the class of GRB supernovae.Comment: 37 pages and 12 figures (one-column pre-print format), accepted for publication in Ap