Gamma-ray bursts (GRB's), short and intense pulses of low-energy $\ensuremath{\gamma}$ rays, have fascinated astronomers and astrophysicists since their unexpected discovery in the late sixties. During the last decade, several space missions---BATSE (Burst and Transient Source Experiment) on the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory, BeppoSAX and now HETE II (High-Energy Transient Explorer)---together with ground-based optical, infrared, and radio observatories have revolutionized our understanding of GRB's, showing that they are cosmological, that they are accompanied by long-lasting afterglows, and that they are associated with core-collapse supernovae. At the same time a theoretical understanding has emerged in the form of the fireball internal-external shocks model. According to this model GRB's are produced when the kinetic energy of an ultrarelativistic flow is dissipated in internal collisions. The afterglow arises when the flow is slowed down by shocks with the surrounding circumburst matter. This model has had numerous successful predictions, like the predictions of the afterglow itself, of jet breaks in the afterglow light curve, and of the optical flash that accompanies the GRB's. This review focuses on the current theoretical understanding of the physical processes believed to take place in GRB's.

/pdf/the-physics-of-gamma-ray-bursts-2v7vwfzv9l.pdf

The physics of gamma-ray bursts

Gamma-ray bursts are the most luminous explosions in the Universe, and their origin and mechanism are the focus of intense research and debate. More than three decades after their discovery, and after pioneering breakthroughs from space and ground experiments, their study is entering a new phase with the recently launched Swift satellite. The interplay between these observations and theoretical models of the prompt gamma-ray burst and its afterglow is reviewed.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0034-4885/69/8/R01/pdf

Gamma-ray bursts

We present a comprehensive sample of all gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows with known distances, and we derive their conical opening angles based on observed broadband breaks in their light curves. Within the framework of this conical jet model, we correct for the geometry and we find that the gamma-ray energy release is narrowly clustered around 5 × 10^(50) ergs. We draw three conclusions. First, the central engines of GRBs release energies that are comparable to ordinary supernovae. Second, the broad distribution in fluence and luminosity for GRBs is largely the result of a wide variation of opening angles. Third, only a small fraction of GRBs are visible to a given observer, and the true GRB rate is several hundred times larger than the observed rate.

/pdf/beaming-in-gamma-ray-bursts-evidence-for-a-standard-energy-d6imx8oka8.pdf

Beaming in gamma-ray bursts: evidence for a standard energy reservoir

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) display a bimodal duration distribution with a separation between the short- and long-duration bursts at about 2 s. The progenitors of long GRBs have been identified as massive stars based on their association with Type Ic core-collapse supernovae (SNe), their exclusive location in star-forming galaxies, and their strong correlation with bright UV regions within their host galaxies. Short GRBs have long been suspected on theoretical grounds to arise from compact object binary mergers (neutron star–neutron star or neutron star–black hole). The discovery of short GRB afterglows in 2005 provided the first insight into their energy scale and environments, as well as established a cosmological origin, a mix of host-galaxy types, and an absence of associated SNe. In this review, I summarize nearly a decade of short GRB afterglow and host-galaxy observations and use this information to shed light on the nature and properties of their progenitors, the energy scale and collimation of the relativistic outflow, and the properties of the circumburst environments. The preponderance of the evidence points to compact object binary progenitors, although some open questions remain. On the basis of this association, observations of short GRBs and their afterglows can shed light on the on- and off-axis electromagnetic counterparts of gravitational wave sources from the Advanced LIGO/Virgo experiments.

Short-Duration Gamma-Ray Bursts

The physics of gamma-ray bursts & relativistic jets

Over the past decade, long-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs)--including the subclass of X-ray flashes (XRFs)--have been revealed to be a rare variety of type Ibc supernova. Although all these events result from the death of massive stars, the electromagnetic luminosities of GRBs and XRFs exceed those of ordinary type Ibc supernovae by many orders of magnitude. The essential physical process that causes a dying star to produce a GRB or XRF, and not just a supernova, is still unknown. Here we report radio and X-ray observations of XRF 060218 (associated with supernova SN 2006aj), the second-nearest GRB identified until now. We show that this event is a hundred times less energetic but ten times more common than cosmological GRBs. Moreover, it is distinguished from ordinary type Ibc supernovae by the presence of 10(48) erg coupled to mildly relativistic ejecta, along with a central engine (an accretion-fed, rapidly rotating compact source) that produces X-rays for weeks after the explosion. This suggests that the production of relativistic ejecta is the key physical distinction between GRBs or XRFs and ordinary supernovae, while the nature of the central engine (black hole or magnetar) may distinguish typical bursts from low-luminosity, spherical events like XRF 060218.

/pdf/relativistic-ejecta-from-x-ray-flash-xrf-060218-and-the-rate-126o4a5z3m.pdf

Relativistic ejecta from X-ray flash XRF 060218 and the rate of cosmic explosions

Relativistic ejecta from XRF 060218 and the complete census of cosmic explosions

GRB 000926 has one of the best-studied afterglows to date, with multiple X-ray observations, as well as extensive multifrequency optical and radio coverage. Broadband afterglow observations, spanning from X-ray to radio frequencies, provide a probe of the density structure of the circumburst medium, as well as of the ejecta energetics, geometry, and physical parameters of the relativistic blast wave resulting from the explosion. We present an analysis of Chandra X-Ray Observatory observations of this event, along with Hubble Space Telescope and radio monitoring data. We combine these data with ground-based optical and IR observations and fit the synthesized afterglow light curve using models where collimated ejecta expand into a surrounding medium. We find that we can explain the broadband light curve with reasonable physical parameters if the cooling is dominated by inverse Compton scattering. For this model, an excess due to inverse Compton scattering appears above the best-fit synchrotron spectrum in the X-ray band. No previous bursts have exhibited this component, and its observation would imply that the GRB exploded in a moderately dense (n ~ 30 cm-3) medium, consistent with a diffuse interstellar cloud environment.

/pdf/broadband-observations-of-the-afterglow-of-grb-000926-44thy3hq6c.pdf

Broadband Observations of the Afterglow of GRB 000926: Observing the Effect of Inverse Compton Scattering

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Relativistic ejecta from X-ray flash XRF 060218 and the rate of cosmic explosions

Relativistic ejecta from XRF 060218 and the complete census of cosmic explosions

Broadband Observations of the Afterglow of GRB 000926: Observing the Effect of Inverse Compton Scattering