3,217 research outputs found
Spectral properties of long and short Gamma-Ray Bursts: comparison between BATSE and Fermi bursts
We compare the spectral properties of 227 Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) detected by
the Fermi Gamma Ray Burst Monitor (GBM) up to February 2010 with those of
bursts detected by the CGRO/BATSE instrument. Out of 227 Fermi GRBs, 166 have a
measured peak energy E_peak_obs of their \nuF(\nu) spectrum: of these 146 and
20 belong the long and short class, respectively. Fermi long bursts follow the
correlations defined by BATSE bursts between their E_peak_obs vs fluence and
peak flux: as already shown for the latter ones, these correlations and their
slopes do not originate from instrumental selection effects. Fermi/GBM bursts
extend such correlations toward lower fluence/peak energy values with respect
to BATSE ones whereas no GBM long burst with E_peak_obs exceeding a few MeV is
found, despite the possibility of detecting them. Again as for BATSE, 5%
of long and almost all short GRBs detected by Fermi/GBM are outliers of the
E_peak-isotropic equivalent energy ("Amati") correlation while no outlier
(neither long nor short) of the E_peak-isotropic equivalent luminosity
("Yonetoku") correlation is found. Fermi long bursts have similar typical
values of E_peak_obs but a harder low energy spectral index with respect to all
BATSE events, exacerbating the inconsistency with the limiting slopes of the
simplest synchrotron emission models. Although the short GRBs detected by Fermi
are still only a few, we confirm that their E_peak_obs is greater and the low
energy spectrum is harder than those of long ones. We discuss the robustness of
these results with respect to observational biases induced by the differences
between the GBM and BATSE instruments.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, submitted to A&
Afterglows from precursors in Gamma Ray Bursts. Application to the optical afterglow of GRB 091024
About 15% of Gamma Ray Bursts have precursors, i.e. emission episodes
preceding the main event, whose spectral and temporal properties are similar to
the main emission. We propose that precursors have their own fireball,
producing afterglow emission due to the dissipation of the kinetic energy via
external shock. In the time lapse between the precursor and the main event, we
assume that the central engine is not completely turned off, but it continues
to eject relativistic material at a smaller rate, whose emission is below the
background level. The precursor fireball generates a first afterglow by the
interaction with the external circumburst medium. Matter injected by the
central engine during the "quasi-quiescent" phase replenishes the external
medium with material in relativistic motion. The fireball corresponding to the
main prompt emission episode crashes with this moving material, producing a
second afterglow, and finally catches up and merges with the first precursor
fireball. We apply this new model to GRB 091024, an event with a precursor in
the prompt light curve and two well defined bumps in the optical afterglow,
obtaining an excellent agreement with the existing data.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, 3 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRAS,
Main Journa
The faster the narrower: characteristic bulk velocities and jet opening angles of Gamma Ray Bursts
The jet opening angle theta_jet and the bulk Lorentz factor Gamma_0 are
crucial parameters for the computation of the energetics of Gamma Ray Bursts
(GRBs). From the ~30 GRBs with measured theta_jet or Gamma_0 it is known that:
(i) the real energetic E_gamma, obtained by correcting the isotropic equivalent
energy E_iso for the collimation factor ~theta_jet^2, is clustered around
10^50-10^51 erg and it is correlated with the peak energy E_p of the prompt
emission and (ii) the comoving frame E'_p and E'_gamma are clustered around
typical values. Current estimates of Gamma_0 and theta_jet are based on
incomplete data samples and their observed distributions could be subject to
biases. Through a population synthesis code we investigate whether different
assumed intrinsic distributions of Gamma_0 and theta_jet can reproduce a set of
observational constraints. Assuming that all bursts have the same E'_p and
E'_gamma in the comoving frame, we find that Gamma_0 and theta_jet cannot be
distributed as single power-laws. The best agreement between our simulation and
the available data is obtained assuming (a) log-normal distributions for
theta_jet and Gamma_0 and (b) an intrinsic relation between the peak values of
their distributions, i.e theta_jet^2.5*Gamma_0=const. On average, larger values
of Gamma_0 (i.e. the "faster" bursts) correspond to smaller values of theta_jet
(i.e. the "narrower"). We predict that ~6% of the bursts that point to us
should not show any jet break in their afterglow light curve since they have
sin(theta_jet)<1/Gamma_0. Finally, we estimate that the local rate of GRBs is
~0.3% of all local SNIb/c and ~4.3% of local hypernovae, i.e. SNIb/c with
broad-lines.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in MNRA
Bulk Lorentz factors of Gamma-Ray Bursts
Knowledge of the bulk Lorentz factor of GRBs allows us to
compute their comoving frame properties shedding light on their physics. Upon
collisions with the circumburst matter, the fireball of a GRB starts to
decelerate, producing a peak or a break (depending on the circumburst density
profile) in the light curve of the afterglow. Considering all bursts with known
redshift and with an early coverage of their emission, we find 67 GRBs with a
peak in their optical or GeV light curves at a time . For another
106 GRBs we set an upper limit . We show that
is due to the dynamics of the fireball deceleration and not to the passage of a
characteristic frequency of the synchrotron spectrum across the optical band.
Considering the of 66 long GRBs and the 85 most constraining upper
limits, using censored data analysis methods, we reconstruct the most likely
distribution of . All are larger than the time when the prompt emission peaks, and are much larger than the time when the fireball becomes transparent. The reconstructed distribution of
has median value 300 (150) for a uniform (wind) circumburst
density profile. In the comoving frame, long GRBs have typical isotropic
energy, luminosity, and peak energy erg, erg s ,
and keV in the homogeneous (wind) case. We
confirm that the significant correlations between and the rest frame
isotropic energy (), luminosity () and peak energy
() are not due to selection effects. Assuming a typical opening
angle of 5 degrees, we derive the distribution of the jet baryon loading which
is centered around a few .Comment: 19 pages, 11 figures, 6 tables. Accepted for publication on Astronomy
& Astrophysic
Some remarks on particle size effects on the abrasion of a range of Fe based alloys
The low-stress three body abrasion behaviour of a range of steels was investigated. The tests were carried out in a rubber wheel tester (according to ASTM G65-94, reapproved in 2000) at room temperature. The abrasive particles used were angular alumina particles of four different sizes. The results showed that, in general, the smaller particles (50 8m and 125 8m average size) caused more damage. With these particles, observations of surface morphology indicarted a more intense cutting and ploughing action, leading to more damage, whereas bigger particles i.e. larger 250 8m and 560 8m particles produced less damage, and their action involved more plastic deformation type wear. The 304 SS had a lower abrasion resistance than the 310 SS. For the austentic and ferritic steels the subsurface deformation was larger for impact with the coarser particles. Variations in substrate hardness had no effect on the abrasive behaviour observed. On the whole, the hardest steel (mild steel in martensitic condition) showed the higher extent of damage, irrespective of particle size
PIXE and ToF-SIMS analysis of streaker samplers filters
This paper presents methodological innovations introduced in the characterisation of urban aerosol collected in Italy in a recent campaign. Two complementary ion beam analysis (IBA) techniques were used to analyse Nuclepore filters used in continuous streaker samplers to collect airborne particles in four Italian towns. Na to Pb elemental concentrations were obtained by particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE), while time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) produced, on the same samples, time trends for several elements and molecular fragments. In addition, light attenuation measurements were used as a tracer for black carbon. The data produced by these three techniques was merged into a unique data set to address the characterisation of particulate matter sources. Correlations between elemental concentration trends (PIXE) and relative trends for molecular fragments (ToF-SIMS) and black carbon (light attenuation) have been studied by cluster and principal component analysis
Characterization of gamma-ray burst prompt emission spectra down to soft X-rays
Detection of prompt emission by Swift-XRT provides a unique tool to study how the prompt spectrum of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) extends down to the soft X-ray band. This energy band is particularly important for prompt emission studies, since it is towards low energies that the observed spectral shape is in disagreement with the synchrotron predictions. Unfortunately, the number of cases where XRT started observing the GRB location during the prompt phase is very limited. In this work, we collect a sample of 34 GRBs and perform joint XRT+BAT spectral analysis of prompt radiation, extending a previous study focused on the 14 brightest cases. Fermi-GBM observations are included in the analysis when available (11 cases), allowing the characterization of prompt spectra from soft X-rays to MeV energies. In 62% of the spectra, the XRT data reveal a hardening of the spectrum, well described by introducing an additional, low-energy power-law segment (with index \u3b1 1 ) into the empirical fitting function. The break energy below which the spectrum hardens has values between 3 keV and 22 keV. A second power-law (\u3b1 2 ) describes the spectrum between the break energy and the peak energy. The mean values of the photon indices are (\u3b1 1 ) = -0.51 (\u3c3 = 0.24) and (\u3b1 2 ) = -1.56 (\u3c3 = 0.26). These are consistent, within one \u3c3, with the synchrotron values in fast cooling regime. As a test, if we exclude XRT data from the fits we find typical results: the spectrum below the peak energy is described by a power law with (\u3b1) = -1.15. This shows the relevance of soft X-ray data in revealing prompt emission spectra consistent with synchrotron spectra. Finally, we do not find any correlation between the presence of the X-ray break energy and the flux, fluence, or duration of the prompt emission
Prompt optical emission as a signature of synchrotron radiation in gamma-ray bursts
Information on the spectral shape of prompt emission in gamma-ray bursts (GRB) is mostly available only at energies greater than or similar to 10 keV, where the main instruments for GRB detection are sensitive. The origin of this emission is still very uncertain because of the apparent inconsistency with synchrotron radiation, which is the most obvious candidate, and the resulting need for considering less straight-forward scenarios. The inclusion of data down to soft X-rays (similar to 0.5 keV), which are available only in a small fraction of GRBs, has firmly established the common presence of a spectral break in the low-energy part of prompt spectra, and even more importantly, the consistency of the overall spectral shape with synchrotron radiation in the moderately fast-cooling regime, the low-energy break being identified with the cooling frequency. In this work we further extend the range of investigation down to the optical band. In particular, we test the synchrotron interpretation by directly fitting a theoretically derived synchrotron spectrum and making use of optical to gamma-ray data. Secondly, we test an alternative model that considers the presence of a black-body component at similar to keV energies, in addition to a non-thermal component that is responsible for the emission at the spectral peak (100 keV-1 MeV). We find that synchrotron radiation provides a good description of the broadband data, while models composed of a thermal and a non-thermal component require the introduction of a low-energy break in the non-thermal component in order to be consistent with optical observations. Motivated by the good quality of the synchrotron fits, we explore the physical parameter space of the emitting region. In a basic prompt emission scenario we find quite contrived solutions for the magnetic field strength (5G < B' < 40 G) and for the location of the region where the radiation is produced (R-gamma > 10(16) cm). We discuss which assumptions of the basic model would need to be relaxed in order to achieve a more natural parameter space
- …