A two component jet model for the X-ray afterglow flat segment in short GRB 051221A

In the double neutron star merger or neutron star-black hole merger model for short GRBs, the outflow launched might be mildly magnetized and neutron rich. The magnetized neutron-rich outflow will be accelerated by the magnetic and thermal pressure and may form a two component jet finally, as suggested by Vlahakis, Peng & K\"{o}nigl (2003). We show in this work that such a two component jet model could well reproduce the multi-wavelength afterglow lightcurves, in particular the X-ray flat segment, of short GRB 051221A. In this model, the central engine need not to be active much longer than the prompt $\gamma-$ray emission.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figure; Accepted for publication by ApJ

Cross correlations of Frank sequences and Chu Sequences.

Sets of Frank sequences and Chu sequences are two classes of polyphase sequence with ideal periodic autocorrelation functions, which at the same time have optimum crosscorrelation functions. The authors consider the crosscorrelations of sets of combined Frank/Chu sequences, which contain a larger number of sequences than either of the two constituent sets. It is shown analytically that the crosscorrelations are similar to those of the original sets with one exception, while the autocorrelations remain perfectly impulsiv

Behavior of X-Ray Dust Scattering and Implications for X-Ray Afterglows of Gamma-Ray Bursts

The afterglows of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have commonly been assumed to be due to shocks sweeping up the circum-stellar medium. However, most GRBs have been found in dense star-forming regions where a significant fraction of the prompt X-ray emission can be scattered by dust grains. Here we revisit the behavior of dust scattering of X-rays in GRBs. We find that the features of some X-ray afterglows from minutes to days after the gamma-ray triggers are consistent with the scattering of prompt X-ray emission from GRBs off host dust grains. This implies that some of the observed X-ray afterglows (especially those without sharp rising and decaying flares) could be understood with a dust-scattering--driven emission model.Comment: ApJ, in pres

The X-ray afterglow of GRB 081109A: clue to the wind bubble structure

We present the prompt BAT and afterglow XRT data of Swift-discovered GRB081109A up to ~ 5\times 10^5 sec after the trigger, and the early ground-based optical follow-ups. The temporal and spectral indices of the X-ray afterglow emission change remarkably. We interpret this as the GRB jet first traversing the freely expanding supersonic stellar wind of the progenitor with density varying as $\rho \propto r^{-2}$. Then after approximately 300 sec the jet traverses into a region of apparent constant density similar to that expected in the stalled-wind region of a stellar wind bubble or the interstellar medium (ISM). The optical afterglow data are generally consistent with such a scenario. Our best numerical model has a wind density parameter {$A_{*} \sim 0.02$, a density of the stalled wind $n\sim 0.12 {\rm cm}^{-3}$, and a transition radius $\sim 4.5 \times 10^{17}$ cm}. Such a transition radius is smaller than that predicted by numerical simulations of the stellar wind bubbles and may be due to a rapidly evolving wind of the progenitor close to the time of its core-collapse.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables, MNRAS accepted for publicatio

Neutrino emission from a GRB afterglow shock during an inner supernova shock breakout

The observations of a nearby low-luminosity gamma-ray burst (GRB) 060218 associated with supernova SN 2006aj may imply an interesting astronomical picture where a supernova shock breakout locates behind a relativistic GRB jet. Based on this picture, we study neutrino emission for early afterglows of GRB 060218-like GRBs, where neutrinos are expected to be produced from photopion interactions in a GRB blast wave that propagates into a dense wind. Relativistic protons for the interactions are accelerated by an external shock, while target photons are basically provided by the incoming thermal emission from the shock breakout and its inverse-Compton scattered component. Because of a high estimated event rate of low-luminosity GRBs, we would have more opportunities to detect afterglow neutrinos from a single nearby GRB event of this type by IceCube. Such a possible detection could provide evidence for the picture described above.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

GeV-TeV and X-ray flares from gamma-ray bursts

The recent detection of delayed X-ray flares during the afterglow phase of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) suggests an inner-engine origin, at radii inside the deceleration radius characterizing the beginning of the forward shock afterglow emission. Given the observed temporal overlapping between the flares and afterglows, there must be inverse Compton (IC) emission arising from such flare photons scattered by forward shock afterglow electrons. We find that this IC emission produces GeV-TeV flares, which may be detected by GLAST and ground-based TeV telescopes. We speculate that this kind of emission may already have been detected by EGRET from a very strong burst--GRB940217. The enhanced cooling of the forward shock electrons by the X-ray flare photons may suppress the synchrotron emission of the afterglows during the flare period. The detection of GeV-TeV flares combined with low energy observations may help to constrain the poorly known magnetic field in afterglow shocks. We also consider the self-IC emission in the context of internal-shock and external-shock models for X-ray flares. The emission above GeV from internal shocks is low, while the external shock model can also produce GeV-TeV flares, but with a different temporal behavior from that caused by IC scattering of flare photons by afterglow electrons. This suggests a useful approach for distinguishing whether X-ray flares originate from late central engine activity or from external shocks.Comment: slightly shortened version, accepted for publication in ApJ Letters, 4 emulateapj pages, no figure

High Energy Neutrino Flashes from Far-Ultraviolet and X-ray Flares in Gamma-Ray Bursts

The recent observations of bright optical and x-ray flares by the Swift satellite suggest these are produced by the late activities of the central engine. We study the neutrino emission from far-ultraviolet and x-ray flares under the late internal shock model. We show that the efficiency of pion production in the highest energy is comparable to or higher than the unity, and the contribution from such neutrino flashes to a diffuse very high energy neutrino background can be larger than that of prompt bursts if the total baryonic energy input into flares is comparable to the radiated energy of prompt bursts. These signals may be detected by IceCube and are very important because they have possibilities to probe the nature of flares (the baryon loading, the photon field, the magnetic field and so on).Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, version published in PR