GRB980425 in the Off-Axis Jet Model of the Standard GRBs

Using a simple off-axis jet model of GRBs, we can reproduce the observed unusual properties of the prompt emission of GRB980425, such as the extremely low isotropic equivalent gamma-ray energy, the low peak energy, the high fluence ratio, and the long spectral lag when the jet with the standard energy of ~10^{51} ergs and the opening half-angle of \Delta\theta=~10-30 degree is seen from the off-axis viewing angle ~\Delta\theta+10/\gamma, where \gamma is a Lorentz factor of the jet. For our adopted fiducial parameters, if the jet that caused GRB 980425 is viewed from the on-axis direction, the intrinsic peak energy Ep(1+z) is ~2.0-4.0 MeV, which corresponds to those of GRB990123 and GRB021004. Our model might be able to explain the other unusual properties of this event. We also discuss the connection of GRB980425 in our model with the X-ray flash, and the origin of a class of GRBs with small E_\gamma such as GRB030329, GRB980329, GRB981226, and so on.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures aipTEX, contribution to the 2003 GRB Conference, held at Santa Fe, N

Non-Equilibrium Ionization States of GRB Environments

Iron spectral features are thought to be the best tracer of a progenitor of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). The detections of spectral features such as an iron line and/or a Radiative Recombination edge and Continuum (RRC) were reported in four X-ray afterglows of GRBs. However their properties were different each other burst by burst. For example, Chandra observation of GRB 991216 reported both the strong H-like iron line together with its RRC. On the contrary, Yoshida et al. (2001) report only a detection of the strong RRC in GRB 970828 with ASCA. Since it is difficult to produce the strong RRC, we have to consider special condition for the line and/or the RRC forming region. In this paper, we point out a possibility of a ``non-equilibrium ionization state'' for the line and the RRC forming region.Comment: 10pages, 2figures. Accepted for ApJL. This is a companion paper by A.Yoshida et. a

A possible observational evidence for θ−2\theta^{-2} angular distribution of opening half-angle of GRB jets

We propose a method to estimate the pseudo jet opening half-angle of GRBs using the spectral peak energy (\Ep)--peak luminosity relation (so called Yonetoku relation) as well as the \Ep--collimation-corrected $\gamma$-ray energy relation (so called Ghirlanda relation). For bursts with known jet break times and redshifts, we compared the pseudo jet opening half-angle with the standard one and found that the differences are within a factor 2. We apply the method to 689 long GRBS. We found that the distribution function of the pseudo jet opening half-angle obeys $f(\theta_j)\propto\theta_j^{-2.2 \pm 0.2}$ with possible cutoffs for $\theta_j 0.3$ although the log-normal fit is also possible. $\theta^{-2}$ distribution is compatible with the structured jet model. From the distribution function we found that the beaming correction for the rate of GRBs is $\sim 340$, which means $\sim 10^{-5}$ yr$^{-1}$ galaxy$^{-1}$ or only one in $10^2$ type Ib/c supernovae. We also found the evolution of the distribution function as a function of the redshift.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, submitted to MNRA

Strict Limit on CPT Violation from Polarization of Gamma-Ray Bursts

We report the strictest observational verification of CPT invariance in the photon sector, as a result of gamma-ray polarization measurement of distant gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), which are brightest stellar-size explosions in the universe. We detected the gamma-ray polarization of three GRBs with high significance, and the source distances may be constrained by a well-known luminosity indicator for GRBs. For the Lorentz- and CPT-violating dispersion relation E_{\pm}^2=p^2 \pm 2\xi p^3/M_{Pl}, where \pm denotes different circular polarization states of the photon, the parameter \xi is constrained as |\xi|<O(10^{-15}). Barring precise cancellation between quantum gravity effects and dark energy effects, the stringent limit on the CPT-violating effect leads to the expectation that quantum gravity presumably respects the CPT invariance.Comment: 4 pages; accepted for publication in Physical Review Letters; redshift estimates of GRBs changed (i.e z=0.382 was wrong for GRB 110721A) and calculations of \xi limit improved from the previous versio

Identifying Subclasses of Long Gamma-Ray Bursts with Cumulative Light Curve Morphology of Prompt Emissions

We argue a new classification scheme of long gamma-ray bursts (LGRBs) using the morphology of the cumulative light curve of the prompt emission. We parametrize the morphology by the absolute deviation from their constant luminosity ($ADCL$) and derive the value for 36 LGRBs which have spectropic redshifts, spectral parameters determined by the Band model, 1-second peak fluxes, fluences, and 64-msec resolution light curves whose peak counts are 10 times larger than background fluctuations. Then we devide the sample according to the value of ADCL into two groups ($ADCL 0.17$) and, for each group, derive the spectral peak energy $E_{\rm p}$ - peak luminosity $L_{\rm p}$ correlation and the Fundamental Plane of LGRBs, which is a correlation between the spectral peak energy $E_{\rm p}$, the luminosity time $T_{\rm L}$ ($\equiv E_{\rm iso}/L_{\rm p}$ where $E_{\rm iso}$ is isotropic energy) and the peak luminosity $L_{\rm p}$. We find that both of the correlations for both groups are statistically more significant compared with ones derived from all samples. The Fundamental Planes with small and large ADCL are given by $L_{\rm p}=10^{52.53\pm 0.01}(E_{\rm p}/10^{2.71}{\rm keV})^{1.84\pm 0.03} (T_{\rm L}/10^{0.86}{\rm sec})^{0.29\pm0.08}$ with $\chi^2_{\nu}=10.93/14$ and $L_{\rm p}=10^{52.98\pm0.08}(E_{\rm p}/10^{2.71}{\rm keV})^{1.82\pm 0.09} (T_{\rm L}/10^{0.86}{\rm sec})^{0.85\pm 0.27}$ with $\chi^2_{\nu}=7.58/8$, respectively. This fact implies the existence of subclasses of LGRBs characterized by the value of $ADCL$. Also there is a hint for the existence of the intermediate-$ADCL$ class which deviates from both fundamental planes. Both relations are so tight that our result provides a new accurate distance measurement scheme up to the high redshift universe.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, 2 tables. Submitted to PAS

GRB formation rate derived by the Ep-luminosity relation

We estimate a GRB formation rate based on the new relation between the spectral peak energy (Ep) and the peak luminosity. This relation is derived combining the data of Ep and the peak luminosities by BeppoSAX and BATSE, and it looks considerably tighter and more reliable than the relations suggested by the previous works. Using the new Ep-luminosity relation, we estimate redshifts of the 689 GRBs without known distances in the BATSE catalog and derive a GRB formation rate as a function of the redshift. For the redshift range of 0 ≤ z ≤ 2, the GRB formation rate increases and is well correlated with the star formation rate while it keeps constant toward z ∼ 12