1,457 research outputs found
Highlights of the Rome Workshop on Gamma-Ray Bursts in the Afterglow Era
I review some of the highlights of the Rome Workshop on Gamma-Ray Bursts, and
discuss some of the questions these results pose about the nature and origin of
gamma-ray bursts.Comment: 8 pages, Proceedings of Gamma-Ray Bursts in the Afterglow Era, Nov.
1998, Rome, F. Frontera & L. Piro eds., A&A Suppl. Ser., in pres
Issues in the analysis and interpretation of cyclotron lines in gamma ray bursts
The Bayesian approach is discussed to establishing the existence of lines, the importance of observing multiple cyclotron harmonics in determining physical parameters from the lines, and evidence from cyclotron lines of neutron star rotation
Continuum and line spectra of degenerate dwarf X-ray sources
Recent observations of X-ray sources are summarized. Unresolved issues concerning these sources are discussed and an outline of the kinds of X-ray observations that would best advance the understanding of these sources is presented
Gamma-Ray Burst Jet Profiles And Their Signatures
HETE-II and BeppoSAX have produced a sample of GRBs and XRFs with known
redshifts and . This sample provides four important empirical
constraints on the nature of the source jets: Log is approximately
uniformly distributed over several orders of magnitude; the inferred prompt
energy Log is narrowly distributed; the Amati relation holds
between and ; and the Ghirlanda relation holds between
and .
We explore the implications of these constraints for GRB jet structure during
the prompt emission phase. We infer the underlying angular profiles from the
first two of the above constraints assuming all jets have the same profile and
total energy, and show that such ``universal jet'' models cannot satisfy both
constraints.
We introduce a general and efficient method for calculating relativistic
emission distributions and distributions from jets with arbitrary
(smooth) angular jet profiles. We also exhibit explicit analytical formulas for
emission from top-hat jets (which are not smooth). We use these methods to
exhibit and as a function of viewing angle, for several
interesting families of GRB jet profiles. We use the same methods to calculate
expected frequency distributions of and for the same
families of models.
We then proceed to explore the behavior of universal jet models under a range
of profile shapes and parameters, to map the extent to which these models can
conform to the above four empirical constraints.Comment: 71 page, 33 figures. Submitted to Ap
Jet Models of X-Ray Flashes
One third of all HETE-2--localized bursts are X-Ray Flashes (XRFs), a class
of events first identified by Heise in which the fluence in the 2-30 keV energy
band exceeds that in the 30-400 keV energy band. We summarize recent HETE-2 and
other results on the properties of XRFs. These results show that the properties
of XRFs, X-ray-rich gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), and GRBs form a continuum, and
thus provide evidence that all three kinds of bursts are closely related
phenomena. As the most extreme burst population, XRFs provide severe
constraints on burst models and unique insights into the structure of GRB jets,
the GRB rate, and the nature of Type Ib/Ic supernovae. We briefly mention a
number of the physical models that have been proposed to explain XRFs. We then
consider two fundamentally different classes of phenomenological jet models:
universal jet models, in which it is posited that all GRBs jets are identical
and that differences in the observed properties of the bursts are due entirely
to differences in the viewing angle; and variable-opening angle jet models, in
which it is posited that GRB jets have a distribution of jet opening angles and
that differences in the observed properties of the bursts are due to
differences in the emissivity and spectra of jets having different opening
angles. We consider three shapes for the emissivity as a function of the
viewing angle theta_v from the axis of the jet: power-law, top hat (or
uniform), and Gaussian (or Fisher). We then discuss the effect of relativistic
beaming on each of these models. We show that observations can distinguish
between these various models.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, 1 table. Invited review talk at the 4th Workshop
Gamma-Ray Bursts in the Afterglow Era, Rome,18-22 October 2004. Editors: L.
Piro, L. Amati, S. Covino, and B. Gendre. Il Nuovo Cimento, in pres
Likelihood Analysis of GRB Evolution with Redshift
We present a likelihood approach to modeling multi-dimensional GRB
Epeak--fluence--redshift data that naturally incorporates instrument detection
thresholds. The treatment of instrument thresholds is essential for analyzing
evidence for GRB evolution. The method described here compares the data to a
uniform jet model, in which the jet parameters are allowed to vary with
redshift. Data from different experiments may be modeled jointly. In addition,
BATSE data (for which no redshift information is available) may be incorporated
by ascribing to each event a likelihood derived from the full model by
integrating the probability density over the unknown redshift. The loss of
redshift information is mitigated by the large number of available bursts. We
discuss the implementation of the method, and validation of it using simulated
data.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure. Poster presented at the 4th Workshop Gamma-Ray
Bursts in the Afterglow Era, Rome,18-22 October 2004. Editors: L. Piro, L.
Amati, S. Covino, and B. Gendre. Il Nuovo Cimento, in pres
Fundamental studies in X-ray astrophysics
An analytical model calculation of the ionization structure of matter accreting onto a degenerate dwarf was carried out. Self-consistent values of the various parameters are used. The possibility of nuclear burning of the accreting matter is included. We find the blackbody radiation emitted from the stellar surface keeps hydrogen and helium ionized out to distances much larger than a typical binary separation. Except for low mass stars or high accretion rates, the assumption of complete ionization of the elements heavier than helium is a good first approximation. For low mass stars or high accretion rates the validity of assuming complete ionization depends sensitivity on the distribution of matter in the binary system
Evidence for Two Distinct Morphological Classes of Gamma-Ray Bursts from their Short Timescale Variability
We have analyzed the 241 bursts for which peak counts \C exist in the
publicly available Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) catalog.
Introducing peak counts in 1024 ms as a measure of burst brightness \B and
the ratio of peak counts in 64 and 1024 ms as a measure of short timescale
variability \V, we find a statistically significant correlation between the
brightness and the short timescale variability of \g-ray bursts. The bursts
which are smoother on short timescales are both faint and bright, while the
bursts which are variable on short timescales are faint only, suggesting the
existence of two distinct morphological classes of bursts.Comment: 9 pages + 2 Postscript figures available upon request; LATEX v. 2.0
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