3,294 research outputs found
Gamma-Ray Burst Jet Breaks Revisited
Gamma-ray Burst (GRB) collimation has been inferred with the observations of achromatic steepening in GRB light curves, known as jet breaks. Identifying a jet break from a GRB afterglow light curve allows a measurement of the jet opening angle and true energetics of GRBs. In this paper, we re-investigate this problem using a large sample of GRBs that have an optical jet break that is consistent with being achromatic in the X-ray band. Our sample includes 99 GRBs from 1997 February to 2015 March that have optical and, for Swift GRBs, X-ray light curves that are consistent with the jet break interpretation. Out of the 99 GRBs we have studied, 55 GRBs are found to have temporal and spectral behaviors both before and after the break, consistent with the theoretical predictions of the jet break models, respectively. These include 53 long/soft (Type II) and 2 short/hard (Type I) GRBs. Only 1 GRB is classified as the candidate of a jet break with energy injection. Another 41 and 3 GRBs are classified as the candidates with the lower and upper limits of the jet break time, respectively. Most jet breaks occur at 90 ks, with a typical opening angle θj = (2.5 ± 1.0)°. This gives a typical beaming correction factor for Type II GRBs, suggesting an even higher total GRB event rate density in the universe. Both isotropic and jet-corrected energies have a wide span in their distributions: log(Eγ,iso/erg) = 53.11 with σ = 0.84; log(EK,iso/erg) = 54.82 with σ = 0.56; log(Eγ/erg) = 49.54 with σ = 1.29; and log(EK/erg) = 51.33 with σ = 0.58. We also investigate several empirical correlations (Amati, Frail, Ghirlanda, and Liang–Zhang) previously discussed in the literature. We find that in general most of these relations are less tight than before. The existence of early jet breaks and hence small opening angle jets, which were detected in the Swfit era, is most likely the source of scatter. If one limits the sample to jet breaks later than 104 s, the Liang–Zhang relation remains tight and the Ghirlanda relation still exists. These relations are derived from Type II GRBs, and Type I GRBs usually deviate from them
Black hole images: A Review
In recent years, unprecedented progress has been achieved regarding black
holes' observation through the electromagnetic channel. The images of the
supermassive black holes M87 and Sgr A released by the Event
Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration provided direct visual evidence for their
existence, which has stimulated further studies on various aspects of the
compact celestial objects. Moreover, the information stored in these images
provides a new way to understand the pertinent physical processes that occurred
near the black holes, to test alternative theories of gravity, and to furnish
insight into fundamental physics. In this review, we briefly summarize the
recent developments on the topic. In particular, we elaborate on the features
and formation mechanism of black hole shadows, the properties of black hole
images illuminated by the surrounding thin accretion disk, and the
corresponding polarization patterns. The potential applications of the relevant
studies are also addressed.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figures, Acepted by Sci. China-Phys. Mech. Astro
Polytypism and Unexpected Strong Interlayer Coupling of two-Dimensional Layered ReS2
The anisotropic two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals (vdW) layered materials,
with both scientific interest and potential application, have one more
dimension to tune the properties than the isotropic 2D materials. The
interlayer vdW coupling determines the properties of 2D multi-layer materials
by varying stacking orders. As an important representative anisotropic 2D
materials, multilayer rhenium disulfide (ReS2) was expected to be random
stacking and lack of interlayer coupling. Here, we demonstrate two stable
stacking orders (aa and a-b) of N layer (NL, N>1) ReS2 from ultralow-frequency
and high-frequency Raman spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy and
first-principles density functional theory calculation. Two interlayer shear
modes are observed in aa-stacked NL-ReS2 while only one interlayer shear mode
appears in a-b-stacked NL-ReS2, suggesting anisotropic-like and isotropic-like
stacking orders in aa- and a-b-stacked NL-ReS2, respectively. The frequency of
the interlayer shear and breathing modes reveals unexpected strong interlayer
coupling in aa- and a-b-NL-ReS2, the force constants of which are 55-90% to
those of multilayer MoS2. The observation of strong interlayer coupling and
polytypism in multi-layer ReS2 stimulate future studies on the structure,
electronic and optical properties of other 2D anisotropic materials
A Comprehensive Analysis of Fermi Gamma-Ray Burst Data. IV. Spectral Lag and its Relation to E p Evolution
The spectral evolution and spectral lag behavior of 92 bright pulses from 84 gamma-ray bursts observed by the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) telescope are studied. These pulses can be classified into hard-to-soft pulses (H2S; 64/92), H2S-dominated-tracking pulses (21/92), and other tracking pulses (7/92). We focus on the relationship between spectral evolution and spectral lags of H2S and H2S-dominated-tracking pulses. The main trend of spectral evolution (lag behavior) is estimated with ( ), where E p is the peak photon energy in the radiation spectrum, t + t 0 is the observer time relative to the beginning of pulse −t 0, and is the spectral lag of photons with energy E with respect to the energy band 8–25 keV. For H2S and H2S-dominated-tracking pulses, a weak correlation between and k E is found, where W is the pulse width. We also study the spectral lag behavior with peak time of pulses for 30 well-shaped pulses and estimate the main trend of the spectral lag behavior with . It is found that is correlated with k E . We perform simulations under a phenomenological model of spectral evolution, and find that these correlations are reproduced. We then conclude that spectral lags are closely related to spectral evolution within the pulse. The most natural explanation of these observations is that the emission is from the electrons in the same fluid unit at an emission site moving away from the central engine, as expected in the models invoking magnetic dissipation in a moderately high-σ outflow
A comprehensive analysis of Fermi Gamma-Ray Burst Data: IV. Spectral lag and Its Relation to Ep Evolution
The spectral evolution and spectral lag behavior of 92 bright pulses from 84
gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) observed by the Fermi GBM telescope are studied. These
pulses can be classified into hard-to-soft pulses (H2S, 64/92),
H2S-dominated-tracking pulses (21/92), and other tracking pulses (7/92). We
focus on the relationship between spectral evolution and spectral lags of H2S
and H2S-dominated-tracking pulses. %in hard-to-soft pulses (H2S, 64/92) and
H2S-dominating-tracking (21/92) pulses. The main trend of spectral evolution
(lag behavior) is estimated with
(), where is the peak photon
energy in the radiation spectrum, is the observer time relative to the
beginning of pulse , and is the spectral lag of photons
with energy with respect to the energy band - keV. For H2S and
H2S-dominated-tracking pulses, a weak correlation between
and is found, where is the pulse width. We also study the spectral
lag behavior with peak time of pulses for 30 well-shaped pulses
and estimate the main trend of the spectral lag behavior with . It is found that is correlated with
. We perform simulations under a phenomenological model of spectral
evolution, and find that these correlations are reproduced. We then conclude
that spectral lags are closely related to spectral evolution within the pulse.
The most natural explanation of these observations is that the emission is from
the electrons in the same fluid unit at an emission site moving away from the
central engine, as expected in the models invoking magnetic dissipation in a
moderately-high- outflow.Comment: 58 pages, 11 figures, 3 tables. ApJ in pres
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