scholarly journals Unveiling the origin of steep decay in γ-ray bursts

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuele Ronchini ◽  
Gor Oganesyan ◽  
Marica Branchesi ◽  
Stefano Ascenzi ◽  
Maria Grazia Bernardini ◽  
...  

Abstract γ-ray bursts (GRBs) are short-lived transients releasing a large amount of energy (10^51-10^53 erg) in the keV-MeV energy range. GRBs are thought to originate from internal dissipation of the energy carried by ultra-relativistic jets launched by the remnant of a massive star’s death or a compact binary coalescence. While thousands of GRBs have been observed over the last thirty years, we still have an incomplete understanding of where and how the radiation is generated in the jet. A novel investigation of the GRB emission mechanism, via time-resolved spectral analysis of the X-ray tails of bright GRB pulses, enables us to discover a unique relation between the spectral index and the flux. This relation is incompatible with the long standing scenario invoked to interpret X-ray tails, that is, the delayed arrival of pho-tons from high-latitude parts of the jet. We show that our results provide for the first time evidence of adiabatic cooling and efficient energy exchange between the emitting particles in the relativistic outflows of GRBs.

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuele Ronchini ◽  
Gor Oganesyan ◽  
Marica Branchesi ◽  
Stefano Ascenzi ◽  
Maria Grazia Bernardini ◽  
...  

Abstractγ-ray bursts (GRBs) are short-lived transients releasing a large amount of energy (1051 − 1053 erg) in the keV-MeV energy range. GRBs are thought to originate from internal dissipation of the energy carried by ultra-relativistic jets launched by the remnant of a massive star’s death or a compact binary coalescence. While thousands of GRBs have been observed over the last thirty years, we still have an incomplete understanding of where and how the radiation is generated in the jet. Here we show a relation between the spectral index and the flux found by investigating the X-ray tails of bright GRB pulses via time-resolved spectral analysis. This relation is incompatible with the long standing scenario which invokes the delayed arrival of photons from high-latitude parts of the jet. While the alternative scenarios cannot be firmly excluded, the adiabatic cooling of the emitting particles is the most plausible explanation for the discovered relation, suggesting a proton-synchrotron origin of the GRB emission.


Proceedings ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 9
Author(s):  
Ka-Wah Wong ◽  
Rodrigo S. Nemmen ◽  
Jimmy A. Irwin ◽  
Dacheng Lin

The nearby M87 hosts an exceptional relativistic jet. It has been regularly monitored in radio to TeV bands, but little has been done in hard X-rays ≳10 keV. For the first time, we have successfully detected hard X-rays up to 40 keV from its X-ray core with joint Chandra and NuSTAR observations, providing important insights to the X-ray origins: from the unresolved jet or the accretion flow. We found that the hard X-ray emission is significantly lower than that predicted by synchrotron self-Compton models introduced to explain very-high-energy γ -ray emission above a GeV. We discuss recent models to understand these high energy emission processes.


2008 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 159-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. A. M. Ahmed ◽  
S. Shaw ◽  
L. G. Benning

AbstractThe formation and transformation of hydroxysulphate (GRSO4) and hydroxycarbonate (GRCO3) Green Rusts were studied in situ using synchrotron-based time-resolved small and wide angle X-ray scattering. The time-resolved data revealed, for the first time, the pH dependent transition from poorly-ordered schwertmannite (pH <6.5) into GRSO4 (pH ~6.8) followed by GRCO3 (at pH ~9.6). These data also showed that the addition of Zn to the starting sulphate Fe2+/Fe3+ solution resulted in a change in size of the GR unit-cell due to substitution of Zn into the GR structure.


2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Briggs ◽  
R. Torchio ◽  
A. Sollier ◽  
F. Occelli ◽  
L. Videau ◽  
...  

Time-resolved X-ray diffraction measurements have been carried out on dynamically compressed Sn up to a maximum pressure of ∼13 GPa at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility. The phase transition from β-Sn to body-centered tetragonal (b.c.t.) Sn has been observed using synchrotron X-ray diffraction for the first time undergoing shock compression and release. Following maximum compression, the sample releases to lower pressures for several nanoseconds until the reverse transition occurs. The data are in good agreement with previous shock boundaries that indicate that the β-Sn phase is stable ∼2 GPa higher than the static boundary upon compression and the b.c.t.-Sn phase is stable ∼1 GPa lower upon release. The transition to the high-pressure phase reveals a loss of texture in the X-ray diffraction data from the `quasi' single-crystal β-Sn structure to a more powder-like Debye–Scherrer ring.


2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (S275) ◽  
pp. 176-177
Author(s):  
L. Foschini ◽  
E. Angelakis ◽  
G. Bonnoli ◽  
G. Calderone ◽  
M. Colpi ◽  
...  

AbstractNarrow-Line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) class of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is generally radio-quiet, but a small percent of them are radio-loud. The recent discovery by Fermi/LAT of high-energy γ-ray emission from 4 NLS1s proved the existence of relativistic jets in these systems. It is therefore important to study this new class of γ-ray emitting AGNs. Here we report preliminary results about the observations of the July 2010 γ-ray outburst of PMN J0948+0022, when the source flux exceeded for the first time 10−6 ph cm−2 s−1 (E > 100 MeV).


1992 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 777-786 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaofang Wang ◽  
Zhizhan Xu ◽  
Shisheng Chen ◽  
Aidi Qian ◽  
Yueling Li ◽  
...  

The effect of laser intensity distribution along the line focus on the uniformity of the line-shaped plasmas produced is investigated with time-integrated and time-resolved soft X-ray and optical diagnostics. Evident plasma condition nonuniformities along the line focus resulting from nonuniform laser intensity distributions have been observed with a conventional simple line-focusing technique. With a new line-focusing technique producing a uniform laser illumination, a uniform, line-shaped plasma can be obtained. It is also found that nonuniformities under uniform laser illumination occur mostly during laser heating. The line-shaped uniform laser plasma can be used as a large, uniform X-ray source besides its importance in X-ray laser demonstration and amplification. As an application of such line-shaped plasmas as X-ray sources, the no-overcoat 5F X-ray film is calibrated for the first time by a new method in the soft X-ray range from 10–80 A.


2008 ◽  
Vol 17 (09) ◽  
pp. 1449-1456 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
L. COSTAMANTE

On the night of 29–30 July 2006, a major γ-ray outburst occurred from PKS 2155-304, which was observed simultaneously with H.E.S.S., Chandra and the Bronberg optical telescopes. An overall 6–8 hours of simultaneous uninterrupted coverage was obtained. Here we report the first preliminary results of this exceptional dataset. The source showed correlated variability between the X-ray and VHE bands, with no lags. The spectra evolve with similar patterns. Huge VHE variations (~ 22×) are accompanied only by small-amplitude X-ray and optical variations (factor 2 and 15% respectively). The source has shown for the first time in an HBL a large Compton dominance (LC/LS ~ 10), and a cubic relation between VHE and X-ray flux variations, during a decaying phase. These results challenge all known "standard" scenarios for the blazar emission.


1984 ◽  
Vol 86 ◽  
pp. 80-83
Author(s):  
S.M. Kahn ◽  
S.D. Vrtilek ◽  
L. Chiappetti ◽  
N.E. White

The presence of objective transmission gratings on the two recent X-ray telescope experiments, the Einstein and EXOSAT Observatories, has opened up a new avenue of research in X-ray astronomy by enabling us, for the first time, to obtain moderate-to-high resolution spectra of cosmic sources in the soft X-ray band (λ ~ 5–200 Å). Both experiments incorporated gold bar transmission gratings with line densities of 500 1/mm and 1000 1/mm which could be inserted into the X-ray optical path at the exit from a grazing incidence mirror. At short wavelengths, the resolution was determined principally by the spatial resolution of the detector-telescope combination. For Einstein, this was Δλ ~ 0.4 Å for the 1000 1/mm grating and ~ 0.8 Å for the 500 1/mm grating. For EXOSAT, the resolution was somewhat worse: Δλ ~ 1.5 Å for the 1000 1/mm grating, and ~ 3 Å for the 500 1/mm grating. (More complete descriptions of these instruments can be found in Seward et al. 1982 and de Korte et al. 1981.)


2020 ◽  
Vol 493 (4) ◽  
pp. 4845-4851 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhongxiang Wang ◽  
Yi Xing ◽  
Jujia Zhang ◽  
Konstantina Boutsia ◽  
Gege Wang ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT 4FGL J0935.3+0901 is a γ-ray source detected by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) onboard the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope. We have conducted detailed analysis of the LAT data for this source and multiwavelength studies of the source field. Its γ-ray emission can be described with a power law (Γ = 2.0 ± 0.2) with an exponential cut-off (Ec = 2.9 ± 1.6 GeV), while the flux shows significant long-term variations. From analysis of archival Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory X-Ray Telescope data, we find only one X-ray source in the LAT’s 2σ error region. Within a $3.7\,{\rm arcsec}$ radius error circle of the X-ray source, there is only one optical object down to r′ ∼ 23 mag. Time-resolved photometry of the optical object indicates a likely 2.5 h periodic modulation, while its spectrum shows double-peaked hydrogen and helium emission lines (similar to those seen in accretion discs in low-mass X-ray binaries). Combining these results, we conclude that we have discovered a compact X-ray emitting binary in likely association with 4FGL J0935.3+0901, i.e. a millisecond pulsar (MSP) binary. We discuss the implication of the optical spectral features: this binary could be a transitional MSP system at a subluminous disc state, although the other possibility, the binary in a rotation-powered state showing the optical emission lines due to intrabinary interaction processes, cannot be excluded. Further observational studies will help to determine detailed properties of this candidate MSP binary and thus clarify its current state.


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