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X-Ray Afterglows of Gamma-Ray Bursts
The afterglow emission has become the main stream of Gamma-Ray burst research
since its discovery three years ago. With the distance-scale enigma solved, the
study of the late-time GRB emission is now the most promising approach to
disclose the origin of these explosions and their relationship with the
environment of the host galaxy in the early phase of the Universe. In this
contribution I will review X-ray observations and their implication on our
undertstanding on the GRB phenomenon. These measurements are providing a direct
probe into the nature of the progenitor and a measurement of the GRB beaming
properties, crucial to establish the total energy output. Some evidence of iron
lines connects the GRB explosion with massive progenitors, thence with
star-forming regions. Furthermore a comparison of the spectral properties with
the temporal evolution indicates that the fireball expansion should not be - on
average - highly collimated, with a jet angle .Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures, Proc.s. of "X-Ray Astronomy '99:Stellar
Endpoints, AGN and the Diffuse X-ray Background", September 6-10, 1999, CNR
Bologn
Global properties of X-ray afterglows of GRB
In this paper we review the general properties of X-ray afterglows. We
discuss in particular on the powerful diagnostics provided by X-ray afterglows
in constraining the environment and fireball in normal GRB, and the
implications on the origin of dark GRB and XRF. We also discuss on the observed
properties of the transition from the prompt to the afterglow phase, and
present a case study for a late X-ray outburst interpreted as the onset of the
afterglow stage.Comment: 8 pages, 1 color figure. Accepted for publication in "il nuovo
cimento". Proceeding of the 4th Rome GRB conference, eds. L. Piro, L. Amati,
S. Covino, B. Gendre. Corrected a typo in caption of Fig.
G-Mode Excitation During the Pre-explosive Simmering of Type Ia Supernovae
Prior to the explosive burning of a white dwarf (WD) that makes a Type Ia
supernova (SN Ia), the star "simmers" for ~10^3 yrs in a convecting, carbon
burning region. I estimate the excitation of g-modes by convection during this
phase and explore their possible affect on the WD. As these modes propagate
from the core of the WD toward its surface, their amplitudes grow with
decreasing density. Once the modes reach nonlinear amplitudes, they break and
deposit their energy into a shell of mass ~10^{-4}M_\odot. This raises the
surface temperature by 6*10^8 K, which is sufficient to ignite a layer of
helium, as is expected to exist for some SN Ia scenarios. This predominantly
synthesizes 28Si, 32S, 40Ca, and some 44Ti. These ashes are expanded out with
the subsequent explosion up to velocities of ~20,000 km/s, which may explain
the high velocity features (HVFs) seen in many SNe Ia. The appearance of HVFs
would therefore be a useful discriminant for determining between progenitors,
since a flammable helium-rich layer will not be present for accretion from a
C/O WD as in a merger scenario. I also discuss the implications of 44Ti
production.Comment: Submitted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 5
pages, 1 figure
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