| 1. |
- Abarr, Quincy, et al.
(författare)
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"XL-Calibur", the Next-Generation Balloon-Borne Hard X-ray Polarimeter
- 2021
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Ingår i: Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2020. - : SPIE-Intl Soc Optical Eng.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper introduces a second-generation balloon-borne hard X-ray polarimetry mission, XL-Calibur.(1) The XL-Calibur will follow up on the X-Calibur mission which was flown from Dec. 29, 2018 for a 2.5 days balloon flight from McMurdo (the Antarctic). X-ray polarimetry promises to give qualitatively new information about high-energy astrophysical sources, such as pulsars and binary black hole systems. The XL-Calibur contains a grazing incidence X-ray telescope with a focal plane detector unit that is sensitive to linear polarization. The telescope is very similar in design to the ASTRO-H HXT telescopes that has the world's largest effective area above 10 keV. XL-Calibur will use the same type of mirror. The detector unit combines a low atomic number Compton scatterer with a CdZnTe detector assembly to measure the polarization making use of the fact that polarized photons Compton scatter preferentially perpendicular to the electric field orientation. It also contains a CdZnTe imager at the bottom. The detector assembly is surrounded by a BGO anticoincidence shield. The pointing system with arcsecond accuracy will be achieved by the WASP (Wallops Arc Second Pointer) from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility. A first flight of the XL-Calibur is currently foreseen for 2022, flying from Sweden.
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| 2. |
- Adriani, O., et al.
(författare)
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Gamma-ray performance study of the HERD payload
- 2022
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Ingår i: 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference, ICRC 2021. - : Sissa Medialab Srl.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The High Energy cosmic-Radiation Detection (HERD) facility has been proposed as a space astronomy payload onboard the future China's Space Station. HERD is planned for operation starting around 2027 for about 10 years In addition to the unprecedented sensitivity for dark matter searches and cosmic-ray measurements up to the knee energy, it should perform gamma-ray monitoring and full sky survey from few hundred MeV up to tens of TeV. We present the first study of the HERD gamma-ray performance obtained with full simulations of the whole detector geometry. HERD will be a cubic detector composed with 5 active faces. We present a study conducted inside the HERD analysis software package, which includes a detailed description of the detector materials. In this work we present the HERD effective area, the point spread function and the resulting gamma-ray sensitivity.
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| 3. |
- Hattori, K., et al.
(författare)
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Current status of the X-ray mirror for the XL-Calibur experiment
- 2021
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Ingår i: Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2020. - : SPIE-Intl Soc Optical Eng.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- XL-Calibur is a balloon-borne hard X-ray polarimetry mission, the first flight of which is currently foreseen for 2022. XL-Calibur carries an X-ray telescope consists of 213 Wolter I grazing-incidence mirrors which are nested in a coaxial and cofocal configuration. The optics design is nearly identical to the Hard X-ray Telescope (HXT) on board the ASTRO-H satellite. The telescope was originally fabricated for the Formation Flying Astronomical Survey Telescope (FFAST) project. However, the telescope can be used for XL-Calibur, since the FFAST project was terminated before completion. The mirror surfaces are coated with Pt/C depth-graded multilayers to reflect hard X-rays above 10 keV by Bragg reflection. The effective area of the telescope is larger than 300 cm(2) at 20 keV. This paper reports the current status of the telescope for XL-Calibur.
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| 4. |
- Kamogawa, W., et al.
(författare)
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Optical performance of the X-ray telescope for the XL-Calibur experiment
- 2022
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Ingår i: Space Telescopes And Instrumentation 2022. - : SPIE-Intl Soc Optical Eng.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- XL-Calibur is a balloon-borne mission for hard X-ray polarimetry. The first launch is currently scheduled from Sweden in summer 2022. Japanese collaborators provide a hard X-ray telescope to the mission. The telescope's design is identical to the Hard X-ray Telescope (HXT, conically-approximated Wolter-I optics) on board ASTRO-H with the same focal length of 12 m and the aperture of 45 cm, which can focus X-rays up to 80 keV. The telescope is divided into three segments in the circumferential direction, and confocal 213 grazing-incidence mirrors are precisely placed in the primary and secondary sections of each segment. The surfaces of the mirrors are coated with Pt/C depth-graded multilayer to reflect hard X-rays efficiently by the Bragg reflection. To achieve the best focus, optical adjustment of all of the segments was performed at the SPring-8/BL20B2 synchrotron radiation facility during 2020. A final performance evaluation was conducted in June 2021 and the experiment yields the effective area of 175 cm(2) and 73 cm(2) at 30 keV and 50 keV, respectively, with its half-power diameter of the point spread function as 2.1 arcmin. The field of view, defined as the full width of the half-maximum of the vignetting curve, is 5.9 arcmin.
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| 5. |
- Kyratzis, D., et al.
(författare)
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The Plastic Scintillator Detector of the HERD space mission
- 2022
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Ingår i: 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference, ICRC 2021. - : Sissa Medialab Srl.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The High Energy cosmic-Radiation (HERD) detector is one of the prominent space-borne instruments to be installed on-board the Chinese Space Station (CSS), around 2027. Primary scientific goals regarding this initiative include: precise measurements of cosmic ray (CR) energy spectra and mass composition, at energies up to the PeV range; contributions to high energy gamma-ray astronomy and transient studies; as well as indirect searches for Dark Matter (DM) particles via their possible annihilation/decay to detectable products. HERD is configured to accept incident particles from both its top and four lateral sides. Owing to its pioneering design, an order of magnitude increase in acceptance is foreseen, with respect to previous and ongoing experiments. The Plastic Scintillator Detector (PSD) constitutes an important sub-detector of HERD, particularly aimed towards anti-coincidence (discriminating incident photons from charged particles), while providing precise charge measurement of incoming cosmic-ray nuclei in a range of Z = 1-26. Main requirements concerning its design, include: high detection efficiency, broad dynamic range and good energy resolution. In order to select the optimal layout, two geometries are currently under investigation: one based on long scintillator bars and the other on square tiles, with both layouts being readout by Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs). Ongoing activities and future plans regarding the HERD PSD will be presented in this work.
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| 6. |
- Leonov, A. A., et al.
(författare)
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The GAMMA-400 gamma-ray telescope characteristics. Angular resolution and electrons/protons separation
- 2014
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Ingår i: Proceedings of Science. - : Sissa Medialab Srl.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The measurements of gamma-ray fluxes and cosmic-ray electrons and positrons in the energy range from 100 MeV to several TeV, which will be realized by the specially designed GAMMA-400 gamma-ray telescope, concern with the following broad range of scientific topics. Search for signatures of dark matter, surveying the celestial sphere in order to study point and extended sources of gamma-rays, measuring the energy spectra of Galactic and extragalactic diffuse gamma-ray emission, study of gamma-ray bursts and gamma-ray emission from the Sun, as well as high precision measurements of spectra of high-energy electrons and positrons, protons and nuclei up to the knee. To clarify these scientific problems with the new experimental data the GAMMA-400 gamma-ray telescope possesses unique physical characteristics comparing with previous and present experiments. For gamma-ray energies more than 100 GeV GAMMA-400 provides the energy resolution ~1% and angular resolution better than 0.02 deg. The methods, developed to reconstruct the direction of incident gamma photon, are presented in this paper, as well as, the capability of the GAMMA-400 gamma-ray telescope to distinguish electrons and positrons from protons in cosmic rays is investigated. The first point concerns with the space topology of high-energy gamma photon interaction in the matter of GAMMA-400. Multiple secondary particles, generated inside gamma-ray telescope, produce significant problems to restore the direction of initial gamma photon. Also back-splash particles, i.e., charged particles and gamma photons generated in calorimeter and moved upward, mask the initial tracks of electron/positron pair from conversion of incident gamma photon. The processed methods allow us to reconstruct the direction of electromagnetic shower axis and extract the electron/positron trace. As a result, the direction of incident gamma photon with the energy of 100 GeV is calculated with an accuracy of better than 0.02 deg. The main components of cosmic rays are protons and helium nuclei, whereas the part of lepton component in the total flux is ~10 -3 for high energies. The separate contribution in proton rejection is studied for each detector system of the GAMMA-400 gamma-ray telescope. Using combined information from all detector systems allow us to provide the rejection from protons with a factor of ~4 10 5 for vertical incident particles and ~3 10 5 for particle with initial inclination of 30 deg. Science with the New Generation of High Energy Gamma-ray experiments, 10th Workshop (Scineghe2014) 04-06 June 2014 Lisbon - Portugal.
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| 7. |
- Pacini, Lorenzo, et al.
(författare)
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Design and expected performances of the large acceptance calorimeter for the HERD space mission
- 2022
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Ingår i: 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference, ICRC 2021. - : Sissa Medialab Srl.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The High Energy cosmic-Radiation Detection (HERD) is a future space experiment which will be installed on the China’s Space Station around 2027. The main goal of the experiment is the measurement of cosmic rays up to energies which are not explored by the instruments currently operating in space, in particular protons with energies up to PeV, nuclei up to hundreds of TeV per nucleon and electrons up to tens of TeV. HERD will consist of silicon charge detectors, anti-coincidence scintillators, scintillating fiber trackers, a transition radiation detector and a calorimeter. The latter is a homogeneous, deep, 3D segmented calorimeter made of about 7500 LYSO cubic crystals: thanks to this innovative design, it will achieve large acceptance, good energy resolution and excellent electron/proton discrimination. In order to increase both energy calibration capabilities and redundancy of the instrument, the LYSO scintillation light will be read-out by two independent systems: the first is made of wave-length shifting fibers coupled with imaged intensified CMOS cameras, and the second one consists of photodiodes with different active areas connected to a custom front-end electronics. Both read-out systems are designed to have a large dynamic range, up to 107, and a low power consumption. The design of the calorimeter is validated by several Monte Carlo simulations and beam test results obtained with detector prototypes. In this paper we describe the anticipated performances of the calorimeter and the current status of the double read-out system, and we discuss the recent developments of both the HERD prototype and the flight model design.
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| 8. |
- Pearce, Mark, 1970-, et al.
(författare)
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Science prospects for SPHiNX - A small satellite GRB polarimetry mission
- 2019
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Ingår i: Astroparticle physics. - : ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV. - 0927-6505 .- 1873-2852. ; 104, s. 54-63
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are exceptionally bright electromagnetic events occurring daily on the sky. The prompt emission is dominated by X-/gamma-rays. Since their discovery over 50 years ago, GRBs are primarily studied through spectral and temporal measurements. The properties of the emission jets and underlying processes are not well understood. A promising way forward is the development of missions capable of characterising the linear polarisation of the high-energy emission. For this reason, the SPHiNX mission has been developed for a small-satellite platform. The polarisation properties of incident high-energy radiation (50-600 keV) are determined by reconstructing Compton scattering interactions in a segmented array of plastic and Gd3Al2Ga3O12(Ce) (GAGG(Ce)) scintillators. During a two-year mission, similar to 200 GRBs will be observed, with similar to 50 yielding measurements where the polarisation fraction is determined with a relative error <= 10%. This is a significant improvement compared to contemporary missions. This performance, combined with the ability to reconstruct GRB localisation and spectral properties, will allow discrimination between leading classes of emission models.
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| 9. |
- Perrina, C., et al.
(författare)
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FIT: the scintillating fiber tracker of the HERD space mission
- 2022
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Ingår i: 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference, ICRC 2021. - : Sissa Medialab Srl.
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The High Energy cosmic-Radiation Detection (HERD) facility is a space payload proposed to be installed onboard the China’s Space Station (CSS). The aims of HERD are the indirect detection of dark matter, the direct detection of cosmic rays towards the “knee” of the spectrum (∼ 1 PeV) and the monitoring of the full gamma-ray sky from 100 MeV. The HERD core is a calorimeter capable of accepting particles incident on its top and four lateral sides, each equipped with a sector of the scintillating fiber tracker: FIT. The FIT sectors host 7 tracking planes made of modules. The module, composed of a fiber mat and three arrays of silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs), is the elementary brick of FIT. Several FIT modules have been built and tested with particle beams at CERN. A FIT demonstrator, made of two partially instrumented tracking planes, has been assembled and sent through vibration tests. The results of the performed tests as well as the current design of FIT are presented in this contribution.
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| 10. |
- Velasco, M. A., et al.
(författare)
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The High Energy cosmic-Radiation Detector (HERD) Trigger System
- 2022
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Ingår i: 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference, ICRC 2021. - : Sissa Medialab Srl.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The High Energy cosmic-Radiation Detection (HERD) facility is a next generation spaceborne detector to be installed onboard the Chinese Space Station for about 10 years. HERD will address major problems in fundamental physics and astrophysics, providing precise measurements of charged-cosmic rays up to PeV energies, performing indirect searches for dark matter in the electron spectrum up to few tens of TeV and monitoring the gamma-ray skymap for surveys and transient searches. HERD is composed of a 3D imaging calorimeter (CALO) surrounded by a scintillating fiber tracker (FIT), a plastic scintillator detector (PSD) and a silicon charge detector (SCD). In addition, a transition radiation detector (TRD) is placed on a lateral side to provide accurate energy calibration. Based on this innovative design, the effective geometric factor of HERD will be one order of magnitud larger than that of current space-based detectors. The HERD trigger strategy is designed to accomplish the scientific goals of the mission, and is based on trigger definitions that rely on the energy deposited in CALO and the PSD. The trigger performances are evaluated using a detailed Monte Carlo simulation that includes the latest HERD geometry. In addition, alternative trigger definitions based on the event topology can be established thanks to the photodiode readout of CALO crystals. The feasibility of these topological triggers is also investigated and presented.
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| 11. |
- Zhang, S. -N, et al.
(författare)
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Introduction to the high energy cosmic-radiation detection (HERD) facility onboard China's future space station
- 2017
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Ingår i: Proceedings of Science. - : Sissa Medialab Srl.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The High Energy cosmic-Radiation Detection (HERD) facility is one of several space astronomy payloads onboard China's Space Station, which is planned for operation starting around 2025 for about 10 years. The main scientific objectives of HERD are searching for signals of dark matter annihilation products, precise cosmic electron (plus positron) spectrum and anisotropy measurements up to 10 TeV, precise cosmic ray spectrum and composition measurements up to the knee energy, and high energy gamma-ray monitoring and survey. HERD is composed of a 3-D cubic calorimeter (CALO) surrounded by microstrip silicon trackers (STKs) from five sides except the bottom. CALO is made of about 7,500 cubes of LYSO crystals, corresponding to about 55 radiation lengths and 3 nuclear interaction lengths, respectively. The top STK microstrips of six X-Y layers are sandwiched with tungsten converters to make precise directional measurements of incoming electrons and gamma-rays. In the baseline design, each of the four side STKs is made of only three layers microstrips. All STKs will also be used for measuring the charge and incoming directions of cosmic rays, as well as identifying back scattered tracks. With this design, HERD can achieve the following performance: energy resolution of 1% for electrons and gamma-rays beyond 100 GeV and 20% for protons from 100 GeV to 1 PeV; electron/proton separation power better than 10-5; effective geometrical factors of >3 m2sr for electron and diffuse gamma-rays, >2 m2sr for cosmic ray nuclei. R&D is under way for reading out the LYSO signals with optical fiber coupled to image intensified IsCMOS and CALO prototype of 250 LYSO crystals.
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| 12. |
- Acuner, Zeynep, et al.
(författare)
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Appearances of the jet photosphere in GRB spectra
- 2018
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Ingår i: 14th Marcel Grossman Meeting On Recent Developments in Theoretical and Experimental General Relativity, Astrophysics and Relativistic Field Theories, Proceedings. - : World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.. - 9789813226593 ; , s. 2921-2930
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- There are several strong arguments for considering photospheric emission in GRBs. Here, we describe the two main appearances of the photospheric emission that are currently discussed. In the multi-component models the photosphere only contributes to a part of the spectrum, while the main part is due to optically-thin synchrotron emission. In the photospheric emission models the whole emission spectrum is from the photosphere: The emission spectrum has been altered due to subphotospheric dissipation and/or off-axis emission. In many cases, though, it is difficult to distinguish between these models on a purely statistical ground. Therefore, more detailed predictions from different physical scenarios should be tested on the observations.
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| 13. |
- Acuner, Zeynep, et al.
(författare)
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Clustering of gamma-ray burst types in the Fermi GBM catalogue: indications of photosphere and synchrotron emissions during the prompt phaseShow affiliations
- 2018
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Ingår i: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 475:2, s. 1708-1724
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Many different physical processes have been suggested to explain the prompt gamma-ray emission in gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Although there are examples of both bursts with photospheric and synchrotron emission origins, these distinct spectral appearances have not been generalized to large samples of GRBs. Here, we search for signatures of the different emission mechanisms in the full Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope/GBM (Gamma-ray Burst Monitor) catalogue. We use Gaussian Mixture Models to cluster bursts according to their parameters from the Band function (α, β, and Epk) as well as their fluence and T90. We find five distinct clusters. We further argue that these clusters can be divided into bursts of photospheric origin (2/3 of all bursts, divided into three clusters) and bursts of synchrotron origin (1/3 of all bursts, divided into two clusters). For instance, the cluster that contains predominantly short bursts is consistent of photospheric emission origin. We discuss several reasons that can determine which cluster a burst belongs to: jet dissipation pattern and/or the jet content, or viewing angle.
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| 14. |
- Acuner, Zeynep, et al.
(författare)
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Non-dissipative photospheres in GRBs : spectral appearance in the Fermi/GBM catalogue
- 2019
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press. - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 487:4, s. 5508-5519
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A large fraction of gamma-ray burst (GRB) spectra are very hard below the peak. Indeed, the observed distribution of sub-peak power-law indices, alpha, has been used as an argument for a photospheric origin of GRB spectra. Here, we investigate what fraction of GRBs have spectra that are consistent with emission from a photopshere in a non-dissipative outflow. This is the simplest possible photospheric emission scenario. We create synthetic spectra, with a range of peak energies, by folding the theoretical predictions through the detector response of the FERMI/GBM detector. These simulated spectral data are fitted with typically employed empirical models. We find that the low-energy photon indices obtain values ranging -0.4 < alpha < 0.0, peaking at around -0.1, thus covering a non-negligible fraction of observed values. These values are significantly softer than the asymptotic value of the theoretical spectrum of alpha similar to 0.4. The reason for the alpha values to be much softer than expected, is the limitation of the empirical functions to capture the true curvature of the theoretical spectrum. We conclude that more than a quarter of the bursts in the GBM catalogue have at least one time-resolved spectrum, whose alpha values are consistent with spectra from a non-dissipative outflow, releasing its thermal energy at the photosphere. The fraction of spectra consistent with emission from the photosphere will increase even more if dissipation of kinetic energy in the flow occurs below the photosphere.
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| 15. |
- Acuner, Zeynep, 1990-
(författare)
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Statistical Investigations ofthe Emission Processes in Gamma-ray Bursts
- 2019
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Physical emission mechanisms responsible for gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) remain elusive to this day, 50 years after their discovery. Although there are well studied physical models, their power to explain the observed data is a matter of debate. In this thesis, the main focus is the statistical studies of the dierent physical models given the available data from the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Observatory to make better comparisons between these models as well as ascertaining how well they can explain the available observations so far. To this end, theoretically predicted thermal and non-thermal GRB spectra are investigated. This investigation entails both ending groupings in the catalog data (clustering) and then simulating the expected physical emission processes to test how they would look like in the current data acquiry, processing and tting procedures. Finally, a Bayesian model comparison is performed in a sub-sample of these bursts to quantify the preference of different models by the data. In conclusion, it is found that around one third of all bursts include intervals where the emission is from a photosphere which is non-dissipative.This means that during these intervals, the emission is either emitted close to the saturation radius or in a flow which is laminar. The results further indicate that dissipation below the photosphere is responsible for the spectral shape in a majority of GRB spectra. It is consequently argued that the dominant emission mechanism during the prompt emission phase in GRBs is thermal emission from the jet photosphere at distance of around 1012 cm from the central engine. A small percentage of the bursts are better explained with a non-thermal generating process such as the synchrotron emission.
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| 16. |
- Acuner, Zeynep, et al.
(författare)
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The Fraction of Gamma-Ray Bursts with an Observed Photospheric Emission Episode
- 2020
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - : IOP PUBLISHING LTD. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 893:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- There is no complete description of the emission physics during the prompt phase in gamma-ray bursts. Spectral analyses, however, indicate that many spectra are narrower than what is expected for nonthermal emission models. Here, we reanalyze the sample of 37 bursts in Yu et al. by fitting the narrowest time-resolved spectrum in each burst. We perform a model comparison between photospheric and synchrotron emission models based on Bayesian evidence. We compare the shapes of the narrowest expected spectra: emission from the photosphere in a non-dissipative flow and slow cooled synchrotron emission from a narrow electron distribution. We find that the photospheric spectral shape is preferred by 54% 8% of the spectra (20/37), while 38% 8% of the spectra (14/37) prefer the synchrotron spectral shape; three spectra are inconclusive. We hence conclude that GRB spectra are indeed very narrow and that more than half of the bursts have a photospheric emission episode. We also find that a third of all analyzed spectra, not only prefer, but are also compatible with a non-dissipative photosphere, confirming previous similar findings. Furthermore, we notice that the spectra that prefer the photospheric model all have low-energy power-law indices alpha greater than or similar to -0.5. This means that alpha is a good estimator for which model is preferred by the data. Finally, we argue that the spectra that statistically prefer the synchrotron model could equally as well be caused by subphotospheric dissipation. If that is the case, photospheric emission during the early, prompt phase would be even more dominant.
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| 17. |
- Ahlgren, Björn, et al.
(författare)
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Investigating Subphotospheric Dissipation in Gamma-Ray Bursts Using Joint Fermi-Swift Observations
- 2019
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - : IOP PUBLISHING LTD. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 880:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The jet photosphere has been proposed as the origin for the gamma-ray burst (GRB) prompt emission. In many such models, characteristic features in the spectra appear below the energy range of the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) detectors, so joint fits with X-ray data are important in order to assess the photospheric scenario. Here we consider a particular photospheric model which assumes localized subphotospheric dissipation by internal shocks in a non-magnetized outflow. We investigate it using Bayesian inference and a sample of eight GRBs with known redshifts which are observed simultaneously with Fermi GBM and the Swift X-ray Telescope (XRT). This provides us with an energy range of 0.3. keV-40. MeV and much tighter parameter constraints. We analyze 32 spectra and find that 16 are well described by the model. We also find that the estimates of the bulk Lorentz factor, Gamma, and the fireball luminosity, L-0,L-52, decrease while the fraction of dissipated energy, epsilon(d), increases in the joint fits compared to GBM-only fits. These changes are caused by a small excess of counts in the XRT data, relative to the model predictions from fits to GBM-only data. The fact that our limited implementation of the physical scenario yields 50% accepted spectra is promising, and we discuss possible model revisions in the light of the new data. Specifically, we argue that the inclusion of significant magnetization, as well as removing the assumption of internal shocks, will provide better fits at low energies.
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| 18. |
- Ahlgren, Björn, et al.
(författare)
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Testing a model for subphotospheric dissipation in GRBs: fits to Fermi data constrain the dissipation scenario
- 2019
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 485, s. 474-497
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- It has been suggested that the prompt emission in gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) could be described by radiation from the photosphere in a hot fireball. Such models must be tested by directly fitting them to data. In this work we use data from the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and consider a specific photospheric model, in which the kinetic energy of a low-magnetization outflow is dissipated locally by internal shocks below the photosphere. We construct a table model with a physically motivated parameter space and fit it to time-resolved spectra of the 36 brightest Fermi GRBs with a known redshift. We find that about two-thirds of the examined spectra cannot be described by the model, as it typically underpredicts the observed flux. However, since the sample is strongly biased towards bright GRBs, we argue that this fraction will be significantly lowered when considering the full population. From the successful fits we find that the model can reproduce the full range of spectral slopes present in the sample. For these cases we also find that the dissipation consistently occurs at a radius of ∼1012 cm and that only a few per cent efficiency is required. Furthermore, we find a positive correlation between the fireball luminosity and the Lorentz factor. Such a correlation has been previously reported by independent methods. We conclude that if GRB spectra are due to photospheric emission, the dissipation cannot only be the specific scenario we consider here.
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| 19. |
- Ajello, M., et al.
(författare)
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A Decade of Gamma-Ray Bursts Observed by Fermi-LAT : The Second GRB Catalog
- 2019
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - : Institute of Physics Publishing (IOPP). - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 878:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Large Area Telescope (LAT) aboard the Fermi spacecraft routinely observes high-energy emission from gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Here we present the second catalog of LAT-detected GRBs, covering the first 10 yr of operations, from 2008 to 2018 August 4. A total of 186 GRBs are found; of these, 91 show emission in the range 30-100 MeV (17 of which are seen only in this band) and 169 are detected above 100 MeV. Most of these sources were discovered by other instruments (Fermi/GBM, Swift/BAT, AGILE, INTEGRAL) or reported by the Interplanetary Network (IPN); the LAT has independently triggered on four GRBs. This catalog presents the results for all 186 GRBs. We study onset, duration, and temporal properties of each GRB, as well as spectral characteristics in the 100 MeV-100 GeV energy range. Particular attention is given to the photons with the highest energy. Compared with the first LAT GRB catalog, our rate of detection is significantly improved. The results generally confirm the main findings of the first catalog: the LAT primarily detects the brightest GBM bursts, and the high-energy emission shows delayed onset as well as longer duration. However, in this work we find delays exceeding 1 ks and several GRBs with durations over 10 ks. Furthermore, the larger number of LAT detections shows that these GRBs not only cover the high-fluence range of GBM-detected GRBs but also sample lower fluences. In addition, the greater number of detected GRBs with redshift estimates allows us to study their properties in both the observer and rest frames. Comparison of the observational results with theoretical predictions reveals that no model is currently able to explain all results, highlighting the role of LAT observations in driving theoretical models.
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| 20. |
- Ajello, M., et al.
(författare)
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Fermi and Swift Observations of GRB 190114C : Tracing the Evolution of High-energy Emission from Prompt to Afterglow
- 2020
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 890:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report on the observations of gamma-ray burst (GRB) 190114C by the Fermi Gamma -ray Space Telescope and the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory. The prompt gamma-ray emission was detected by the Fermi GRB Monitor (GBM), the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT), and the Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) and the long-lived afterglow emission was subsequently observed by the GBM, LAT, Swift X-ray Telescope (XRT), and Swift UV Optical Telescope. The early -time observations reveal multiple emission components that evolve independently, with a delayed power-law component that exhibits significant spectral attenuation above 40 MeV in the first few seconds of the burst. This power-law component transitions to a harder spectrum that is consistent with the afterglow emission observed by the XRT at later times. This afterglow component is clearly identifiable in the GBM and BAT light curves as a slowly fading emission component on which the rest of the prompt emission is superimposed. As a result, we are able to observe the transition from internal-shock- to external-shock-dominated emission. We find that the temporal and spectral evolution of the broadband afterglow emission can be well modeled as synchrotron emission from a forward shock propagating into a wind -like circumstellar environment. We estimate the initial bulk Lorentz factor using the observed high-energy spectral cutoff. Considering the onset of the afterglow component, we constrain the deceleration radius at which this forward shock begins to radiate in order to estimate the maximum synchrotron energy as a function of time. We find that even in the LAT energy range, there exist high-energy photons that are in tension with the theoretical maximum energy that can be achieved through synchrotron emission from a shock. These violations of the maximum synchrotron energy are further compounded by the detection of very high-energy (VHE) emission above 300 GeV by MAGIC concurrent with our observations. We conclude that the observations of VHE photons from GRB 190114C necessitates either an additional emission mechanism at very high energies that is hidden in the synchrotron component in the LAT energy range, an acceleration mechanism that imparts energy to the particles at a rate that is faster than the electron synchrotron energy -loss rate, or revisions of the fundamental assumptions used in estimating the maximum photon energy attainable through the synchrotron process.
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| 21. |
- Ajello, M., et al.
(författare)
-
Fermi-LAT Observations of LIGO/Virgo Event GW170817
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - : Institute of Physics (IOP). - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 861:2
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) observations of the binary neutron star merger event GW170817 and the associated short gamma-ray burst (SGRB) GRB 170817A detected by the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor. The LAT was entering the South Atlantic Anomaly at the time of the LIGO/Virgo trigger (t(GW)) and therefore cannot place constraints on the existence of high-energy (E > 100 MeV) emission associated with the moment of binary coalescence. We focus instead on constraining high-energy emission on longer timescales. No candidate electromagnetic counterpart was detected by the LAT on timescales of minutes, hours, or days after the LIGO/Virgo detection. The resulting flux upper bound (at 95% C. L.) from the LAT is 4.5. x. 10(-10) erg cm(-2) s(-1) in the 0.1-1 GeV range covering a period from tGW. +. 1153 s to t(GW). +. 2027 s. At the distance of GRB 170817A, this flux upper bound corresponds to a luminosity upper bound of 9.7. x. 10(43) erg s(-1), which is five orders of magnitude less luminous than the only other LAT SGRB with known redshift, GRB 090510. We also discuss the prospects for LAT detection of electromagnetic counterparts to future gravitational-wave events from Advanced LIGO/Virgo in the context of GW170817/GRB 170817A.
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| 22. |
- Amati, L., et al.
(författare)
-
The THESEUS space mission concept : science case, design and expected performances
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Advances in Space Research. - : ELSEVIER SCI LTD. - 0273-1177 .- 1879-1948. ; 62:1, s. 191-244
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- THESEUS is a space mission concept aimed at exploiting Gamma-Ray Bursts for investigating the early Universe and at providing a substantial advancement of multi-messenger and time-domain astrophysics. These goals will be achieved through a unique combination of instruments allowing GRB and X-ray transient detection over a broad field of view (more than 1 sr) with 0.5-1 arcmin localization, an energy band extending from several MeV down to 0.3 keV and high sensitivity to transient sources in the soft X-ray domain, as well as on-board prompt (few minutes) follow-up with a 0.7 m class IR telescope with both imaging and spectroscopic capabilities. THESEUS will be perfectly suited for addressing the main open issues in cosmology such as, e.g., star formation rate and metallicity evolution of the inter-stellar and intra-galactic medium up to redshift similar to 10, signatures of Pop III stars, sources and physics of re-ionization, and the faint end of the galaxy luminosity function. In addition, it will provide unprecedented capability to monitor the X-ray variable sky, thus detecting, localizing, and identifying the electromagnetic counterparts to sources of gravitational radiation, which may be routinely detected in the late '20s/early '30s by next generation facilities like aLIGO/ aVirgo, eLISA, KAGRA, and Einstein Telescope. THESEUS will also provide powerful synergies with the next generation of multi-wavelength observatories (e.g., LSST, ELT, SKA, CTA, ATHENA).
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| 23. |
- Andersson, V., et al.
(författare)
-
Large-Area Balloon-Borne Polarized Gamma Ray Observer (PoGO)
- 2005
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the 22nd Texas Symposium on Relativistic Astrophysics at Stanford. ; , s. 736-743
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- We are developing a new balloon-borne instrument (PoGO), to measure polarization of soft gamma rays (30-200 keV) using asymmetry in azimuth angle distribution of Compton scattering. PoGO is designed to detect 10 % polarization in 100mCrab sources in a 6-8 hour observation and bring a new dimension to studies on gamma ray emission/transportation mechanism in pulsars, AGNs, black hole binaries, and neutron star surface. The concept is an adaptation to polarization measurements of well-type phoswich counter consisting of a fast plastic scintillator (the detection part), a slow plastic scintillator (the active collimator) and a BGO scintillator (the bottom anti-counter). PoGO consists of close-packed array of 217 hexagonal well-type phoswich counters and has a narrow field-of-view (~ 5 deg2) to reduce possible source confusion. A prototype instrument has been tested in the polarized soft gamma-ray beams at Advanced Photon Source (ANL) and at Photon Factory (KEK). On the results, the polarization dependence of EGS4 has been validated and that of Geant4 has been corrected.
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| 24. |
- Battelino, M., et al.
(författare)
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Simulation of Prompt Emission from GRBs with a Photospheric Component and its Detectability by GLAST
- 2007
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Ingår i: Gamma-Ray Bursts. - : AIP. - 9780735404137 ; , s. 28-39
-
Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The prompt emission from gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) still requires a physical explanation. Studies of time-resolved GRB spectra, observed in the keV-MeV range, show that a hybrid model consisting of two components, a photospheric and a non-thermal component, in many cases fits bright, single-pulsed bursts as well as, and in some instances even better than, the Band function. With an energy coverage from 8 keV up to 300 GeV, GLAST will give us an unprecedented opportunity to further investigate the nature of the prompt emission. In particular, it will give us the possibility to determine whether a photospheric component is the determining feature of the spectrum or not. Here we present a short study of the ability of GLAST to detect such a photospheric component in the sub-MeV range for typical bursts, using simulation tools developed within the GLAST science collaboration.
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| 25. |
- Bégué, D., et al.
(författare)
-
The problematic connection between gamma-ray bursts and ultra-high energy cosmic rays
- 2019
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Ingår i: High Energy Phenomena in Relativistic Outflows VII. - Trieste, Italy : Sissa Medialab Srl.
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The acceleration site for UHECR is still an open question despite extended research and GRBs are considered one of the most promising source candidates. Under the likely assumption that electrons are also accelerated at the UHECR acceleration site, synchrotron emission from these co-accelerated electrons is inevitable. We characterize this synchrotron emission and compare it to observed GRB spectra and find that for standard parameters, the synchrotron flux from these electrons would be much too luminous. This result challenges both high- and low-luminosity GRBs as accelerators of UHECR. A detailed discussion on GRB 060218 as UHECR source is also presented.
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| 26. |
- Dereli-Begue, Husne, et al.
(författare)
-
A wind environment and Lorentz factors of tens explain gamma-ray bursts X-ray plateau
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Nature Communications. - : Springer Nature. - 2041-1723. ; 13:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The origin of the plateau observed in the early X-ray light curves of gamma ray bursts (GRBs) is debated. Here, the authors show that the observed plateau can be explained within the classical GRB model by considering expanding shell with initial Lorentz factor of a few tens. Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are known to have the most relativistic jets, with initial Lorentz factors in the order of a few hundreds. Many GRBs display an early X-ray light-curve plateau, which was not theoretically expected and therefore puzzled the community for many years. Here, we show that this observed signal is naturally obtained within the classical GRB fireball model, provided that the initial Lorentz factor is rather a few tens, and the expansion occurs into a medium-low density wind. The range of Lorentz factors in GRB jets is thus much wider than previously thought and bridges an observational gap between mildly relativistic jets inferred in active galactic nuclei, to highly relativistic jets deduced in few extreme GRBs. Furthermore, long GRB progenitors are either not Wolf-Rayet stars, or the wind properties during the final stellar evolution phase are different than at earlier times. Our model has predictions that can be tested to verify or reject it in the future, such as lack of GeV emission, lack of strong thermal component and long (few seconds) variability during the prompt phase characterizing plateau bursts.
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| 27. |
- Dereli-Begue, Huesne, et al.
(författare)
-
Classification of Photospheric Emission in Short GRBs
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - : Institute of Physics (IOP). - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 897:2
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In order to better understand the physical origin of short-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), we perform a time-resolved spectral analysis on a sample of 70 pulses in 68 short GRBs with burst durations T-90 less than or similar to 2 s detected by the Fermi/Gamma-ray Burst Monitor. We apply a Bayesian analysis to all spectra that have statistical significance S >= 15 within each pulse and apply a cutoff power-law model. We then select in each pulse the time bin that has the maximum value of the low-energy spectral index for further analysis. Under the assumption that the main emission mechanism is the same throughout each pulse, this analysis is indicative of pulse emission. We find that about 1/3 of the short GRBs are consistent with a pure, nondissipative photospheric model, at least around the peak of the pulse. This fraction is larger than the corresponding fraction (1/4) obtained for long GRBs. For these bursts, we find (i) a bimodal distribution in the values of the Lorentz factors and the hardness ratios and (ii) an anticorrelation between T-90 and the peak energy, E-pk: T-90 proportional to E-pk(-0.50 +/- 0.19). This correlation disappears when we consider the entire sample. Our results thus imply that the short GRB population may in fact be composed of two separate populations: one that is a continuation of the long GRB population to shorter durations, and another that is distinctly separate with different physical properties. Furthermore, thermal emission is initially ubiquitous, but is accompanied at longer times by additional radiation (likely synchrotron).
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| 28. |
- Feroci, M., et al.
(författare)
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The large observatory for x-ray timing
- 2014
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Ingår i: Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering. - : SPIE. - 9780819496126
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Large Observatory For x-ray Timing (LOFT) was studied within ESA M3 Cosmic Vision framework and participated in the final downselection for a launch slot in 2022-2024. Thanks to the unprecedented combination of effective area and spectral resolution of its main instrument, LOFT will study the behaviour of matter under extreme conditions, such as the strong gravitational field in the innermost regions of accretion flows close to black holes and neutron stars, and the supranuclear densities in the interior of neutron stars. The science payload is based on a Large Area Detector (LAD, 10 m2 effective area, 2-30 keV, 240 eV spectral resolution, 1° collimated field of view) and a Wide Field Monitor (WFM, 2-50 keV, 4 steradian field of view, 1 arcmin source location accuracy, 300 eV spectral resolution). The WFM is equipped with an on-board system for bright events (e.g. GRB) localization. The trigger time and position of these events are broadcast to the ground within 30 s from discovery. In this paper we present the status of the mission at the end of its Phase A study.
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| 29. |
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| 30. |
- Greiner, J., et al.
(författare)
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Gamma-ray burst investigation via polarimetry and spectroscopy (GRIPS)
- 2009
-
Ingår i: Experimental astronomy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0922-6435 .- 1572-9508. ; 23:1, s. 91-120
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The primary scientific goal of the GRIPS mission is to revolutionize our understanding of the early universe using gamma-ray bursts. We propose a new generation gamma-ray observatory capable of unprecedented spectroscopy over a wide range of gamma-ray energies (200 keV-50 MeV) and of polarimetry (200-1000 keV). The gamma-ray sensitivity to nuclear absorption features enables the measurement of column densities as high as 10(28)cm (-aEuro parts per thousand 2). Secondary goals achievable by this mission include direct measurements of all types of supernova interiors through gamma-rays from radioactive decays, nuclear astrophysics with massive stars and novae, and studies of particle acceleration near compact stars, interstellar shocks, and clusters of galaxies.
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| 31. |
- Greiner, J., et al.
(författare)
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GRIPS - Gamma-Ray Imaging, Polarimetry and Spectroscopy
- 2012
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Ingår i: Experimental astronomy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0922-6435 .- 1572-9508. ; 34:2, s. 551-582
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We propose to perform a continuously scanning all-sky survey from 200 keV to 80 MeV achieving a sensitivity which is better by a factor of 40 or more compared to the previous missions in this energy range (COMPTEL, INTEGRAL; see Fig. 1). These gamma-ray observations will be complemented by observations in the soft X-ray and (near-)infrared region with the corresponding telescopes placed on a separate satellite. The Gamma-Ray Imaging, Polarimetry and Spectroscopy ("GRIPS") mission with its three instruments Gamma-Ray Monitor (GRM), X-Ray Monitor (XRM) and InfraRed Telescope (IRT) addresses fundamental questions in ESA's Cosmic Vision plan. Among the major themes of the strategic plan, GRIPS has its focus on the evolving, violent Universe, exploring a unique energy window. We propose to investigate γ-ray bursts and blazars, the mechanisms behind supernova explosions, nucleosynthesis and spallation, the enigmatic origin of positrons in our Galaxy, and the nature of radiation processes and particle acceleration in extreme cosmic sources including pulsars and magnetars. The natural energy scale for these non-thermal processes is of the order of MeV. Although they can be partially and indirectly studied using other methods, only the proposed GRIPS measurements will provide direct access to their primary photons. GRIPS will be a driver for the study of transient sources in the era of neutrino and gravitational wave observatories such as IceCUBE and LISA, establishing a new type of diagnostics in relativistic and nuclear astrophysics. This will support extrapolations to investigate star formation, galaxy evolution, and black hole formation at high redshifts.
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| 32. |
- Larsson, S., et al.
(författare)
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The Background of the INTEGRAL SPI Anticoincidence Shield and the Observations of GRBs
- 2004
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Ingår i: PROCEEDINGS OF THE 5TH INTEGRAL WORKSHOP ON THE INTEGRAL UNIVERSE. - : European Space Agency. - 9290928638 ; , s. 649-652
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The anti-coincidence shield, ACS, of the spectrometer, SPI (Vedrenne et al., 2003), on INTEGRAL provides the possibility to study temporal properties of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) with high resolution (Rau et al. 2004). To correctly interpret the results of the analysis, a good understanding of the back,ground and noise levels of the instrument is required. The back-round noise of the ACS, oil timescales up to the length of a GRB, has a Gaussian distribution and its power is independent of frequency, that is, it is white noise. However, it does not follow a Poisson statistic since on average the variance is similar to 1.6 times larger than the mean, and varies significantly. We find a systematic relation between the mean count rate and its variance. The ratio, variance/mean, decreases as the mean count rate increases. As well as helping to understand the cause of this effect, this characterisation is useful when modelling the time variability of GRBs. To illustrate the discussion we present some GRB light curves detected by the SPI/ACS and shortly discuss the analysis that has been made of them.
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| 33. |
- Lesage, S., et al.
(författare)
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Fermi-GBM Discovery of GRB 221009A : An Extraordinarily Bright GRB from Onset to Afterglow
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal Letters. - : IOP Publishing Ltd. - 2041-8205 .- 2041-8213. ; 952:2
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report the discovery of GRB 221009A, the highest flux gamma-ray burst (GRB) ever observed by the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (Fermi-GBM). This GRB has continuous prompt emission lasting more than 600 s, which smoothly transitions to afterglow emission visible in the Fermi-GBM energy range (8 keV-40 MeV), and total energetics higher than any other burst in the Fermi-GBM sample. By using a variety of new and existing analysis techniques we probe the spectral and temporal evolution of GRB 221009A. We find no emission prior to the Fermi-GBM trigger time (t (0); 2022 October 9 at 13:16:59.99 UTC), indicating that this is the time of prompt emission onset. The triggering pulse exhibits distinct spectral and temporal properties suggestive of the thermal, photospheric emission of shock breakout, with significant emission up to & SIM;15 MeV. We characterize the onset of external shock at t (0) + 600 s and find evidence of a plateau region in the early-afterglow phase, which transitions to a slope consistent with Swift-XRT afterglow measurements. We place the total energetics of GRB 221009A in context with the rest of the Fermi-GBM sample and find that this GRB has the highest total isotropic-equivalent energy (E ( & gamma;,iso) = 1.0 x 10(55) erg) and second highest isotropic-equivalent luminosity (L ( & gamma;,iso) = 9.9 x 10(53) erg s(-1)) based on its redshift of z = 0.151. These extreme energetics are what allowed us to observe the continuously emitting central engine of Fermi-GBM from the beginning of the prompt emission phase through the onset of early afterglow.
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| 34. |
- Li, Liang, et al.
(författare)
-
A Cosmological Fireball with 16% Gamma-Ray Radiative Efficiency
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal Letters. - : American Astronomical Society. - 2041-8205 .- 2041-8213. ; 944:2
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the most powerful explosions in the universe. How efficiently the jet converts its energy to radiation is a long-standing problem, which is poorly constrained. The standard model invokes a relativistic fireball with a bright photosphere emission component. A definitive diagnosis of GRB radiation components and the measurement of GRB radiative efficiency require prompt emission and afterglow data, with high resolution and wide band coverage in time and energy. Here, we present a comprehensive temporal and spectral analysis of the TeV-emitting bright GRB 190114C. Its fluence is one of the highest for all the GRBs that have been detected so far, which allows us to perform a high-resolution study of the prompt emission spectral properties and their temporal evolutions, down to a timescale of about 0.1 s. We observe that each of the initial pulses has a thermal component contributing ∼20% of the total energy and that the corresponding temperature and inferred Lorentz factor of the photosphere evolve following broken power-law shapes. From the observation of the nonthermal spectra and the light curve, the onset of the afterglow corresponding to the deceleration of the fireball is considered to start at ∼6 s. By incorporating the thermal and nonthermal observations, as well as the photosphere and synchrotron radiative mechanisms, we can directly derive the fireball energy budget with little dependence on hypothetical parameters, measuring a ∼16% radiative efficiency for this GRB. With the fireball energy budget derived, the afterglow microphysics parameters can also be constrained directly from the data.
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| 35. |
- Li, Liang, et al.
(författare)
-
Bayesian Time-resolved Spectroscopy of Multipulse GRBs : Variations of Emission Properties among Pulses
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. - : IOP PUBLISHING LTD. - 0067-0049 .- 1538-4365. ; 254:2
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are highly variable and exhibit strong spectral evolution. In particular, the emission properties vary from pulse to pulse in multipulse bursts. Here we present a time-resolved Bayesian spectral analysis of a compilation of GRB pulses observed by the Fermi/Gamma-ray Burst Monitor. The pulses are selected to have at least four time bins with a high statistical significance, which ensures that the spectral fits are well determined and spectral correlations can be established. The sample consists of 39 bursts, 117 pulses, and 1228 spectra. We confirm the general trend that pulses become softer over time, with mainly the low-energy power-law index alpha becoming smaller. A few exceptions to this trend exist, with the hardest pulse occurring at late times. The first pulse in a burst is clearly different from the later pulses; three-fourths of them violate the synchrotron line of death, while around half of them significantly prefer photospheric emission. These fractions decrease for subsequent pulses. We also find that in two-thirds of the pulses, the spectral parameters (alpha and peak energy) track the light-curve variations. This is a larger fraction compared to what is found in previous samples. In conclusion, emission compatible with the GRB photosphere is typically found close to the trigger time, while the chance of detecting synchrotron emission is greatest at late times. This allows for the coexistence of emission mechanisms at late times.
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| 36. |
- Li, Liang, et al.
(författare)
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Constraining the Type of Central Engine of GRBs with Swift Data
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. - : Institute of Physics (IOP). - 0067-0049 .- 1538-4365. ; 236:2
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The central engine of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) is poorly constrained. There exist two main candidates: a fast-rotating black hole and a rapidly spinning magnetar. Furthermore, X-ray plateaus are widely accepted to be the energy injection into the external shock. In this paper, we systematically analyze the Swift/XRT light curves of 101 GRBs having plateau phases and known redshifts (before 2017 May). Since a maximum energy budget (similar to 2 x 10(52) erg) exists for magnetars but not for black holes, this provides a good clue to identifying the type of GRB central engine. We calculate the isotropic kinetic energy E-K,(iso) and the isotropic X-ray energy release E-X,E-iso for individual GRBs. We identify three categories based on how likely a black hole harbors a central engine: "Gold" (9 out of 101; both E-X,E-iso and E-K,E-iso exceed the energy budget), "Silver" (69 out of 101; E-X,E-iso less than the limit but E-K,E-iso greater than the limit), and "Bronze" (23 out of 101; the energies are not above the limit). We then derive and test the black hole parameters with the Blandford-Znajek mechanism, and find that the observations of the black hole candidate ("Gold" + "Silver") samples are consistent with the expectations of the black hole model. Furthermore, we also test the magnetar candidate ("Bronze") sample with the magnetar model, and find that the magnetar surface magnetic field (B-p) and initial spin period (P-0) fall into reasonable ranges. Our analysis indicates that if the magnetar wind is isotropic, a magnetar central engine is possible for 20% of the analyzed GRBs. For most GRBs, a black hole is most likely operating.
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| 37. |
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| 38. |
- Mizuno, T., et al.
(författare)
-
High sensitivity balloon-borne hard X-ray/soft Gamma-Ray Polarimeter PoGOLite
- 2007
-
Ingår i: Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record, 2007. NSS ’07. IEEE. - : IEEE. - 9781424409228 ; , s. 2538-2544
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Polarized Gamma-ray Observer - Lightweight version (PoGOLite) is a new balloon experiment capable of detecting 10% polarization from a 200 mCrab source in the 25-80 keV energy range in a single 6-hour flight for the first time. Polarization measurements of hard X-rays and soft gamma-rays are expected to provide a powerful probe into high-energy emission mechanisms as well as source geometries. PoGOLite uses Compton scattering and photo-absorption to measure polarization in an array of 217 well-type phoswich detector cells made of plastic and BGO scintillators. The adoption of a well-type phoswich counter concept and a thick polyethylene neutron shield provides a narrow field-of-view (1.25 msr), a large effective area ( gt; 250 cm2 at 40-50 keV), a high modulation factor (more than 25%) and the low background ( 100 mCrab) required to conduct high-sensitivity polarization measurements. Through tests in laboratories and accelerator facilities of a scaled-down prototype with the front-end electronics of flight design and an extensive study by Monte Carlo simulation, we have demonstrated high instrument performance. PoGOLite will be ready for a first engineering flight in 2009 and a science flight in 2010, during which polarization signals from the Crab Nebula/pulsar, Cygnus X-1 and other objects will be observed.
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| 39. |
- Nymark, Tanja, et al.
(författare)
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Subphotospheric heating in GRBs : analysis and modeling of GRB090902B as observed by Fermi
- 2011
-
Ingår i: 2011 Fermi Symposium proceedings.
-
Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- We analyze the spectral evolution of GRB 090902B and show that subphotospheric dissipation can explain both the spectra and the spectral evolution. The emission from a GRB photosphere can give rise to a variety of spectral shapes. The spectrum can have a shape close to that of a Planck function (as is observed during the first half of GRB090902B) or be broadened, resembling a typical Band function (as is observed during the second half of GRB090902B). The shape mainly depends on the strength and location of the dissipation in the jet, the ratio of the energy densities of thermal photons and of the electrons at the dissipation site, as well as on the strength of the magnetic field. We further discuss numerical models of the dissipation and relate these to the observed spectra.
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| 40. |
- Pe’er, A., et al.
(författare)
-
Observations, theory and implications of thermal emission from gamma-ray bursts
- 2010
-
Ingår i: The Shocking Universe.
-
Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Recent analyses show evidence for a thermal emission component that accompanies the non-thermal emission during the prompt phase of GRBs. First, we show the evidence for the existence of this component; Second, we show that this component is naturally explained by considering emission from the photosphere, taking into account high latitude emission from optically thick relativistically expanding plasma. We show that the thermal flux is expected to decay at late times as F_BB ~ t\^$$-2$$, and the observed temperature as T ~ t\^$$-$$alpha$$, with $$alpha ~ 1/2 - 2/3. These theoretical predictions are in very good agreement with the observations. Finally, we discuss three implications of this interpretation: (a) The relation between thermal emission and high energy, non-thermal spectra observed by Fermi. (b) We show how thermal emission can be used to directly measure the Lorentz factor of the flow and the initial radius of the jet. (c) We show how the lack of detection of the thermal component can be used to constrain the composition of GRB jets.
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| 41. |
- Pe'er, Asaf, et al.
(författare)
-
Photospheric emission in gamma-ray bursts
- 2017
-
Ingår i: International Journal of Modern Physics D. - : WORLD SCIENTIFIC PUBL CO PTE LTD. - 0218-2718. ; 26:10
-
Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- A major breakthrough in our understanding of gamma-ray bursts (GRB) prompt emission physics occurred in the last few years, with the realization that a thermal component accompanies the over-all nonthermal prompt spectra. This thermal part is important by itself, as it provides direct probe of the physics in the innermost outflow regions. It further has an indirect importance, as a source of seed photons for inverse-Compton scattering, thereby it contributes to the nonthermal part as well. In this short review, we highlight some key recent developments. Observationally, although so far it was clearly identified only in a minority of bursts, there is indirect evidence that a thermal component exists in a very large fraction of GRBs, possibly close to 100%. Theoretically, the existence of a thermal component has a large number of implications as a probe of underlying GRB physics. Some surprising implications include its use as a probe of the jet dynamics, geometry and magnetization.
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| 42. |
- Pe'Er, A., et al.
(författare)
-
Photospheric emission in gamma-ray bursts
- 2018
-
Ingår i: 14th Marcel Grossman Meeting On Recent Developments in Theoretical and Experimental General Relativity, Astrophysics and Relativistic Field Theories, Proceedings. - : World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.. - 9789813226593 ; , s. 806-840
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- A major breakthrough in our understanding of gamma-ray bursts (GRB) prompt emission physics occurred in the last few years, with the realization that a thermal component accompanies the over-all nonthermal prompt spectra. This thermal part is important by itself, as it provides direct probe of the physics in the innermost outflow regions. It further has an indirect importance, as a source of seed photons for inverse-Compton scattering, thereby it contributes to the nonthermal part as well. In this short review, we highlight some key recent developments. Observationally, although so far it was clearly identified only in a minority of bursts, there is indirect evidence that a thermal component exists in a very large fraction of GRBs, possibly close to 100%. Theoretically, the existence of a thermal component has a large number of implications as a probe of underlying GRB physics. Some surprising implications include its use as a probe of the jet dynamics, geometry and magnetization.
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| 43. |
- Pe’Er, A., et al.
(författare)
-
The Connection Between Thermal and Non-Thermal Emission in Gamma-ray Bursts : General considerations and GRB090902B as a Case Study
- 2011
-
Ingår i: GAMMA RAY BURSTS 2010. American Institute of Physics Conference Series. - : AIP. - 9780735409163 ; , s. 91-94
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Photospheric (thermal) emission is inherent to the gamma-ray burst (GRB) “fireball” model. We show that inclusion of this component in the analysis of the GRB prompt emission phase naturally explains some of the prompt GRB spectra seen by the Fermi satellite over its entire energy band. The sub-MeV peak is explained as multi-color black body emission, and the high energy tail, extending up to the GeV band, results from roughly similar contributions of synchrotron emission, synchrotron self Compton (SSC) and Comptonization of the thermal photons by energetic electrons originating after dissipation of the kinetic energy above the photosphere. We briefly discuss the theory of multicolor black body emission from relativistically expanding plasma, before showing how the analysis method proposed results in a complete, self consistent picture of the physical conditions at both emission sites of the thermal and non-thermal radiation. Furthermore, it enables to extract the values of the free model parameters. We demonstrate the analysis method on GRB090902B, and present the values of the physical parameters deduced. We briefly discuss the uniqueness of GRB090902B-type spectra.
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| 44. |
- Pe’Er, A., et al.
(författare)
-
The connection between thermal and non-thermal emission in gamma-ray bursts : general considerations and GRB090902B as a case study
- 2012
-
Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 420:1, s. 468-482
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Photospheric (thermal) emission is inherent to the gamma-ray burst (GRB) 'fireball' model. We show here that inclusion of this component in the analysis of the GRB prompt emission phase naturally explains some of the prompt GRB spectra seen by the Fermi satellite over its entire energy band. The sub-MeV peak is explained as multicolour blackbody emission, and the high-energy tail, extending up to the GeV band, results from roughly similar contributions of synchrotron emission, synchrotron self-Compton and Comptonization of the thermal photons by energetic electrons originating after dissipation of the kinetic energy above the photosphere. We show how this analysis method results in a complete, self-consistent picture of the physical conditions at both emission sites of the thermal and non-thermal radiation. We study the connection between the thermal and non-thermal parts of the spectrum, and show how the values of the free model parameters are deduced from the data. We demonstrate our analysis method on GRB090902B: we deduce a Lorentz factor in the range 920 <= eta <= 1070, photospheric radius r(ph) similar or equal to 7.2-8.4 x 10(11) cm and dissipation radius r(gamma) >= 3.5-4.1 x 10(15) cm. By comparison to afterglow data, we deduce that a large fraction epsilon(d) approximate to 85-95 per cent of the kinetic energy is dissipated, and that a large fraction, similar to equipartition of this energy, is carried by the electrons and the magnetic field. This high value of epsilon(d) questions the 'internal shock' scenario as the main energy dissipation mechanism for this GRB.
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| 45. |
- Pe’Er, A., et al.
(författare)
-
Theoretical Implications of Thermal Emission from Gamma-Ray Bursts
- 2009
-
Ingår i: GAMMA-RAY BURST. - : AIP. ; , s. 317-322
-
Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Recent analysis show evidence for a thermal emission component that accompanies the non-thermal emission during the prompt phase of GRBs. We show that this component is naturally explained by considering emission from the photosphere. The photosphere of a relativistically expanding plasma wind strongly depends on the angle to the line of sight, θs. As a result, thermal emission can be seen after tens of seconds. Using probability density function P(r,θs) to describe photon escape at radius r and angle θs, we show that the thermal flux is expected to decay at late times as F$_BB$~t$^-2$, and the observed temperature decays as T~t$^-α$, with α~1/2-2/3. We discuss the relation between thermal emission and high energy, non-thermal spectra observed by FERMI. We show how thermal emission can be used to directly measure the Lorentz factor of the flow and the initial radius of the jet.
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| 46. |
- Petrosian, V., et al.
(författare)
-
Gamma-Ray Bursts as Cosmological Tools
- 2009
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In recent years there has been considerable activity in using gamma-ray bursts as cosmological probes for determining global cosmological parameters complementing results from type Ia supernovae and other methods. This requires a characteristics of the source to be a standard candle. We show that contrary to earlier indications the accumulated data speak against this possibility. Another method would be to use correlation between a distance dependent and a distance independent variable to measure distance and determine cosmological parameters as is done using Cepheid variables and to some extent Type Ia supernovae. Many papers have dealt with the use of so called Amati relation, first predicted by Lloyd, Petrosian and Mallozzi, or the Ghirlanda relation for this purpose. We have argued that these procedure involve many unjustified assumptions which if not true could invalidate the results. In particular, we point out that many evolutionary effects can affect the final outcome. In particular, we demonstrate that the existing data from Swift and other earlier satellites show that the gamma-ray burst may have undergone luminosity evolution. Similar evolution may be present for other variables such as the peak photon energy of the total radiated energy. Another out come of our analysis is determination of the luminosity function and the comoving rate evolution of gamma-ray bursts which does not seem to agree with the cosmic star formation rate. We caution however, that the above result are preliminary and includes primarily the effect of detection threshold. Other selection effects, perhaps less important than this, are also known to be present and must be accounted for. We intend to address these issues in future publications.
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| 47. |
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| 48. |
- Ryde, Felix, 1970-, et al.
(författare)
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On the alpha-intensity correlation in gamma-ray bursts : subphotospheric heating with varying entropy
- 2019
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press. - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 484:2, s. 1912-1925
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The emission mechanism during the prompt phase in gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) can be investigated through correlations between spectral properties. Here, we revisit the correlation relating the instantaneous flux, F, and the photon index below the spectral break, alpha, in individual emission pulses, by studying the 38 most prominent pulses in the Fermi/Gamma-ray Burst Monitor GRB catalogue. First, we search for signatures of the bias in the determination of alpha due to the limited spectral coverage (window effect) expected in the synchrotron case. The absence of such a characteristic signature argues against the simplest synchrotron models. We instead find that the observed correlation between F and alpha can, in general, be described by the relation F(t) proportional to e(k alpha(t)), for which the median k = 3. We suggest that this correlation is a manifestation of subphotospheric heating in a flow with a varying entropy. Around the peak of the light curve, a large entropy causes the photosphere to approach the saturation radius, leading to an intense emission with a narrow spectrum. As the entropy decreases the photosphere secedes from the saturation radius, and weaker emission with a broader spectrum is expected. This simple scenario naturally leads to a correlated variation of the intensity and spectral shape, covering the observed range.
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| 49. |
- Ryde, Felix, 1970-, et al.
(författare)
-
Onset of Particle Acceleration during the Prompt Phase in Gamma-Ray Bursts as Revealed by Synchrotron Emission in GRB 160821A
- 2022
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal Letters. - : American Astronomical Society. - 2041-8205 .- 2041-8213. ; 932:2, s. L15-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The physical processes of gamma-ray emission and particle acceleration during the prompt phase in gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are still unsettled. In order to perform unambiguous physical modeling of observations, a clear identification of the emission mechanism is needed. An instance of a clear identification is the synchrotron emission during the very strong flare in GRB 160821A, which occurred during the prompt phase at 135 s. Here we show that the distribution of the radiating electrons in this flare is initially very narrow but later develops a power-law tail of accelerated electrons. We thus identify for the first time the onset of particle acceleration in a GRB jet. The flare is consistent with a late energy release from the central engine causing an external shock as it encounters a preexisting ring nebula of a progenitor Wolf-Rayet star. Relativistic forward and reverse shocks develop, leading to two distinct emission zones with similar properties. The particle acceleration only occurs in the forward shock, moving into the dense nebula matter. Here, the magnetization also decreases below the critical value, which allows for Fermi acceleration to operate. Using this fact, we find a bulk Lorentz factor of 420 less than or similar to Gamma less than or similar to 770 and an emission radius of R similar to 10(18) cm, indicating a tenuous gas of the immediate circumburst surroundings. The observation of the onset of particle acceleration thus gives new and independent constraints on the properties of the flow as well as on theories of particle acceleration in collisionless astrophysical shocks.
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| 50. |
- Ryde, Felix, 1970-
(författare)
-
Photospheres in gamma ray bursts : Lessons learned from Fermi
- 2012
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Ingår i: Proceedings of Science. - : Sissa Medialab Srl.
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- I will summarise the main lessons learned from Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope observations regarding the behaviour of the photosphere. First, GRB090902B exhibited a clear and distinct component that is best attributed to the jet photosphere. Second, many GRBs have a "double hump" spectrum and a sole Band function cannot model their shapes. Third, Fermi confirms CGRO BATSE results on thermal emission in GRB pulses, its existence and temporal behaviour. Fourth, Fermi provides evidence for sub-photospheric energy dissipation, which can explain the non-thermal spectra seen in many bursts. Indeed, the inclusion of a photospheric emission component is the first step towards an understanding the physical origin of the prompt emission: The Band function does not provide it.
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