scholarly journals The synchrotron mechanism and the high energy flare from PKS 1510-089

Author(s):  
Z. N. Osmanov

In order to understand the role of the synchrotron emission in the high energy gamma-ray flares from PKS 1510-089, we study generation of the synchrotron emission by means of the feedback of cyclotron waves on the particle distribution via the diffusion process. The cyclotron resonance causes the diffusion of particles along and across the magnetic field lines. This process is described by the quasi-linear diffusion (QLD) that leads to the increase of pitch angles and generation of the synchrotron emission. We study the kinetic equation which defines the distribution of emitting particles. The redistribution is conditioned by two major factors, QLD and the dissipation process, that is caused by synchrotron reaction force. The QLD increases pitch angles, whereas the synchrotron force resists this process. The balance between these two forces guarantees the maintenance of the pitch angles and the corresponding synchrotron emission process. The model is analyzed for a wide range of physical parameters and it is shown that the mechanism of QLD provides the generation of high energy (HE) emission in the GeV energy domain. According to the model the lower energy, associated with the cyclotron modes, provokes the synchrotron radiation in the higher energy band.

2003 ◽  
Vol 214 ◽  
pp. 331-332
Author(s):  
Zhuo Li ◽  
Z. G. Dai ◽  
T. Lu

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are believed to originate from ultra-relativistic fireballs, with initial Lorentz factor η ∼ 102 − 103. However very high energy photons may still suffer from γγ interaction. We show here that in a wide range of model parameters, the resulting pairs may dominate electrons associated with the fireball baryons. This may provide an explanation for the rarity of prompt optical detections. A rapid response to the GRB trigger at the IR band would detect such a strong flash.


2020 ◽  
Vol 496 (1) ◽  
pp. 974-986 ◽  
Author(s):  
H Zhang ◽  
I M Christie ◽  
M Petropoulou ◽  
J M Rueda-Becerril ◽  
D Giannios

ABSTRACT The afterglow emission from gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) is believed to originate from a relativistic blast wave driven into the circumburst medium. Although the afterglow emission from radio up to X-ray frequencies is thought to originate from synchrotron radiation emitted by relativistic, non-thermal electrons accelerated by the blast wave, the origin of the emission at high energies (HE; ≳GeV) remains uncertain. The recent detection of sub-TeV emission from GRB 190114C by the Major Atmospheric Gamma Imaging Cherenkov Telescopes (MAGIC) raises further debate on what powers the very high energy (VHE; ≳300 GeV) emission. Here, we explore the inverse Compton scenario as a candidate for the HE and VHE emissions, considering two sources of seed photons for scattering: synchrotron photons from the blast wave (synchrotron self-Compton or SSC) and isotropic photon fields external to the blast wave (external Compton). For each case, we compute the multiwavelength afterglow spectra and light curves. We find that SSC will dominate particle cooling and the GeV emission, unless a dense ambient infrared photon field, typical of star-forming regions, is present. Additionally, considering the extragalactic background light attenuation, we discuss the detectability of VHE afterglows by existing and future gamma-ray instruments for a wide range of model parameters. Studying GRB 190114C, we find that its afterglow emission in the Fermi-Large Area Telescope (LAT) band is synchrotron dominated. The late-time Fermi-LAT measurement (i.e. t ∼ 104 s), and the MAGIC observation also set an upper limit on the energy density of a putative external infrared photon field (i.e. ${\lesssim} 3\times 10^{-9}\, {\rm erg\, cm^{-3}}$), making the inverse Compton dominant in the sub-TeV energies.


Author(s):  
J. A. Hinton ◽  
R. L. C. Starling

Cosmic explosions dissipate energy into their surroundings on a very wide range of time scales: producing shock waves and associated particle acceleration. The historical culprits for the acceleration of the bulk of Galactic cosmic rays are supernova remnants: explosions on approximately 10 4 year time scales. Increasingly, however, time-variable emission points to rapid and efficient particle acceleration in a range of different astrophysical systems. Gamma-ray bursts have the shortest time scales, with inferred bulk Lorentz factors of approximately 1000 and photons emitted beyond 100 GeV, but active galaxies, pulsar wind nebulae and colliding stellar winds are all now associated with time-variable emission at approximately teraelectron volt energies. Cosmic photons and neutrinos at these energies offer a powerful probe of the underlying physical mechanisms of cosmic explosions, and a tool for exploring fundamental physics with these systems. Here, we discuss the motivations for high-energy observations of transients, the current experimental situation, and the prospects for the next decade, with particular reference to the major next-generation high-energy observatory, the Cherenkov Telescope Array.


2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (S274) ◽  
pp. 56-61
Author(s):  
Gerhard Haerendel

AbstractThe importance of reconnection in astrophysics has been widely recognized. It is instrumental in storing and releasing magnetic energy, the latter often in a dramatic fashion. A closely related process, playing in very low beta plasmas, is much less known. It is behind the acceleration of auroral particles in the low-density environment several 1000 km above the Earth. It involves the appearance of field-parallel voltages in presence of intense field-aligned currents. The underlying physical process is the release of magnetic shear stresses and conversion of the liberated magnetic energy into kinetic energy of the particles creating auroral arcs. In this process, field lines disconnect from the field anchored in the ionosphere and reconnect to other field lines. Because of the stiffness of the magnetic field, the process resembles mechanical fractures. It is typically active in the low-density magnetosphere of planets. However, it can also lead to significant energy conversion with high-energy particle production and subsequent gamma ray emissions in stellar magnetic fields, in particular of compact objects.


2020 ◽  
Vol 493 (1) ◽  
pp. 1479-1491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Truong Le ◽  
Cecilia Ratke ◽  
Vedant Mehta

ABSTRACT Utilizing more than 100 long gamma-ray bursts (LGRBs) in the Swift-Ryan-2012 sample that includes the observed redshifts and jet angles, Le & Mehta performed a timely study of the rate density of LGRBs with an assumed broken power-law GRB spectrum and obtained a GRB-burst-rate functional form that gives acceptable fits to the pre-Swift and Swift redshift, and jet angle distributions. The results indicated an excess of LGRBs at redshift below z ∼ 2 in the Swift sample. In this work, we are investigating if the excess is caused by the cosmological Hubble constant H0, the gamma-ray energy released ${\cal E}_{*\gamma }$, the low- and high-energy indices (α, β) of the Band function, the minimum and maximum jet angles θj, min and θj, max, or that the excess is due to a bias in the Swift-Ryan-2012 sample. Our analyses indicate that none of the above physical parameters resolved the excess problem, but suggesting that the Swift-Ryan-2012 sample is biased with possible afterglow selection effect. The following model physical parameter values provide the best fit to the Swift-Ryan-2012 and pre-Swift samples: the Hubble constant $H_0 = 72 \, {\rm km s^{-1} Mpc^{-1}}$, the energy released ${\cal E}_{*\gamma }\sim 4.47 \times 10^{51}$ erg, the energy indices α ∼ 0.9 and β ∼ −2.13, the jet angles of θj, max ∼ 0.8 rad, and θj, min ∼ 0.065 and ∼0.04 rad for pre-Swift and Swift, respectively, s ∼ −1.55 the jet angle power-law index, and a GRB formation rate that is similar to the Hopkins & Beacom observed star formation history and as extended by Li. Using the Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Host Galaxy Legacy Survey (SHOALS) Swift-Perley LGRB sample and applying the same physical parameter values as above, however, our model provides consistent results with this data set and indicating no excess of LGRBs at any redshift.


Paleobiology ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 311-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian L. Melott ◽  
Brian C. Thomas

Terrestrial mass extinctions have been attributed to a wide range of causes. Some of them are external to Earth, such as bolide impacts (as widely discussed for the K/T boundary) and radiation events. Among radiation events, there are possible large solar flares, nearby supernovae, gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), and others. These have variable intensity, duration, and probability of occurrence, although some generalizations are possible in understanding their effects (Ejzak et al. 2007). Here we focus on gamma-ray bursts (Thorsett 1995; Scalo and Wheeler 2002), a proposed causal agent for the end-Ordovician extinction. These are the most remote and infrequent of events, but by virtue of their power, a threat approximately competitive with, for example, that of nearby supernovae. A GRB of the most powerful type (Woosley and Bloom 2006) is thought to result from a supernova at the end of stellar evolution for very massive stars with high rotational speed. Much of their energy is channeled into beams, or jets, which include very high energy electromagnetic energy, i.e., gamma-rays and X-rays. It is a testament to the power of these events, far across the observable universe, that they were first detected in the 1969–1970 results from monitoring satellites designed to detect nuclear explosions on Earth's surface. It was not until the 1990s, when the distance to the events became known, that their power became apparent. Several such events occur every day in the observable universe. Other kinds of events are also potentially damaging, such as so-called short bursts and solar flares, but rate information is only now beginning to clarify how much threat is likely from such sources.


2019 ◽  
Vol 490 (3) ◽  
pp. 3476-3482 ◽  
Author(s):  
I Bartos ◽  
K R Corley ◽  
N Gupte ◽  
N Ash ◽  
Z Márka ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The recent discovery of TeV emission from gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) by the MAGIC and H.E.S.S. Cherenkov telescopes confirmed that emission from these transients can extend to very high energies. The TeV energy domain reaches the most sensitive band of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). This newly anticipated, improved sensitivity will enhance the prospects of gravitational-wave follow-up observations by CTA to probe particle acceleration and high-energy emission from binary black hole and neutron star mergers, and stellar core-collapse events. Here we discuss the implications of TeV emission on the most promising strategies of choice for the gravitational-wave follow-up effort for CTA and Cherenkov telescopes more broadly. We find that TeV emission (i) may allow more than an hour of delay between the gravitational-wave event and the start of CTA observations; (ii) enables the use of CTA’s small size telescopes that have the largest field of view. We characterize the number of pointings needed to find a counterpart. (iii) We compute the annual follow-up time requirements and find that prioritization will be needed. (iv) Even a few telescopes could detect sufficiently nearby counterparts, raising the possibility of adding a handful of small-sized or medium-sized telescopes to the network at diverse geographic locations. (v) The continued operation of VERITAS/H.E.S.S./MAGIC would be a useful compliment to CTA’s follow-up capabilities by increasing the sky area that can be rapidly covered, especially in the United States and Australia, in which the present network of gravitational-wave detectors is more sensitive.


Author(s):  
Marcello Giroletti ◽  
Filippo D'Ammando ◽  
Monica Orienti ◽  
Rocco Lico

Radio loud active galactic nuclei are composed of different spatial features, each one characterized by different spectral properties in the radio band. Among them, blazars are the most common class of sources detected at gamma-rays by \fermi, and their radio emission is dominated by the flat spectrum compact core. In this contribution, we explore the connection between emission at high energy revealed by \fermi\ and at radio frequency. Taking as a reference the strong and very highly significant correlation found between gamma rays and cm-$\lambda$ radio emission, we explore different behaviours found as we change the energy range in gamma rays and in radio, therefore changing the physical parameters of the zones involved in the radiation emission. We find that the correlation weakens when we consider (1) gamma rays of energy above 10 GeV (except for high synchrotron peaked blazars) or (2) low frequency radio data taken by the Murchison Widefield Array; on the other hand, the correlation strengthens when we consider mm-$\lambda$ data taken by ALMA.


2021 ◽  
Vol 87 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
J.M. TenBarge ◽  
B. Ripperda ◽  
A. Chernoglazov ◽  
A. Bhattacharjee ◽  
J.F. Mahlmann ◽  
...  

Alfvén wave collisions are the primary building blocks of the non-relativistic turbulence that permeates the heliosphere and low- to moderate-energy astrophysical systems. However, many astrophysical systems such as gamma-ray bursts, pulsar and magnetar magnetospheres and active galactic nuclei have relativistic flows or energy densities. To better understand these high-energy systems, we derive reduced relativistic magnetohydrodynamics equations and employ them to examine weak Alfvénic turbulence, dominated by three-wave interactions, in reduced relativistic magnetohydrodynamics, including the force-free, infinitely magnetized limit. We compare both numerical and analytical solutions to demonstrate that many of the findings from non-relativistic weak turbulence are retained in relativistic systems. But, an important distinction in the relativistic limit is the inapplicability of a formally incompressible limit, i.e. there exists finite coupling to the compressible fast mode regardless of the strength of the magnetic field. Since fast modes can propagate across field lines, this mechanism provides a route for energy to escape strongly magnetized systems, e.g. magnetar magnetospheres. However, we find that the fast-Alfvén coupling is diminished in the limit of oblique propagation.


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