On-axis view of GRB 170817A Salafia, O. S.; Ghirlanda, G.; Ascenzi, S. ...
Astronomy and astrophysics (Berlin),
08/2019, Volume:
628
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
The peculiar short gamma-ray burst (SGRB) GRB 170817A has been firmly associated to the gravitational wave event GW170817, which has been unanimously interpreted as due to the coalescence of a double ...neutron star binary. The unprecedented behaviour of the non-thermal afterglow led to a debate over its nature, which was eventually settled by high-resolution VLBI observations that strongly support the off-axis structured jet scenario. Using information on the jet structure derived from multi-wavelength fitting of the afterglow emission and of the apparent VLBI image centroid motion, we compute the appearance of a GRB 170817A-like jet as seen by an on-axis observer and compare it to the previously observed population of SGRB afterglows and prompt emission events. We find that the intrinsic properties of the GRB 170817A jet are representative of a typical event in the SGRB population, hinting at a quasi-universal jet structure. The diversity in the SGRB afterglow population could therefore be ascribed in large part to extrinsic (redshift, density of the surrounding medium, viewing angle) rather than intrinsic properties. Although more uncertain, the comparison can be extended to the prompt emission properties, leading to similar conclusions.
We study the BL Lac objects detected in the 1-year all-sky survey of the Fermi satellite, with an energy spectral slope αγ in the 0.1-100 GeV band greater than 1.2. In the αγ versus γ-ray luminosity ...plane, these BL Lacs occupy the region populated by flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs). Studying the properties of their spectral energy distributions (SEDs) and of their emitting lines, we find that several of these BL Lacs have an SED similar to FSRQs and that they do have broad lines of large equivalent width (EW), and should be reclassified as FSRQs even adopting the current phenomenological definition (i.e. EW of the emitting line greater than 5 Å). In other cases, even if the EW is small, the emitting lines can be as luminous as in quasars, and again their SED is similar to the SED of FSRQs. Sources classified as BL Lacs with an SED appearing as intermediate between BL Lacs and FSRQs also have relatively weak broad emission lines and small EW, and can be considered as transition sources. These properties are confirmed also by model fitting that allows us to derive the relevant intrinsic jet parameters and the jet power. This study leads us to propose a physical distinction between the two classes of blazars, based on the luminosity of the broad-line region measured in Eddington units. The dividing line is of the order of L
BLR/L
Edd∼ 5 × 10−4, in good agreement with the idea that the presence of strong emitting lines is related to a transition in the accretion regime, becoming radiatively inefficient below a disc luminosity of the order of 1 per cent of the Eddington one.
Information on the spectral shape of prompt emission in gamma-ray bursts (GRB) is mostly available only at energies ≳10 keV, where the main instruments for GRB detection are sensitive. The origin of ...this emission is still very uncertain because of the apparent inconsistency with synchrotron radiation, which is the most obvious candidate, and the resulting need for considering less straightforward scenarios. The inclusion of data down to soft X-rays (∼0.5 keV), which are available only in a small fraction of GRBs, has firmly established the common presence of a spectral break in the low-energy part of prompt spectra, and even more importantly, the consistency of the overall spectral shape with synchrotron radiation in the moderately fast-cooling regime, the low-energy break being identified with the cooling frequency. In this work we further extend the range of investigation down to the optical band. In particular, we test the synchrotron interpretation by directly fitting a theoretically derived synchrotron spectrum and making use of optical to gamma-ray data. Secondly, we test an alternative model that considers the presence of a black-body component at ∼keV energies, in addition to a non-thermal component that is responsible for the emission at the spectral peak (100 keV–1 MeV). We find that synchrotron radiation provides a good description of the broadband data, while models composed of a thermal and a non-thermal component require the introduction of a low-energy break in the non-thermal component in order to be consistent with optical observations. Motivated by the good quality of the synchrotron fits, we explore the physical parameter space of the emitting region. In a basic prompt emission scenario we find quite contrived solutions for the magnetic field strength (5 G < B′< 40 G) and for the location of the region where the radiation is produced (Rγ > 1016 cm). We discuss which assumptions of the basic model would need to be relaxed in order to achieve a more natural parameter space.
We report our observation of the short gamma-ray burst (GRB) GRB 170817A, associated to the binary neutron star merger gravitational wave (GW) event GW 170817, performed in the X-ray band with ...XMM-Newton 135 d after the event (on 29 December, 2017). We find evidence for a flattening of the X-ray light curve with respect to the previously observed brightening. This is also supported by a nearly simultaneous optical Hubble Space Telescope observation and successive X-ray Chandra and low-frequency radio observations recently reported in the literature. Since the optical-to-X-ray spectral slope did not change with respect to previous observations, we exclude that the change in the temporal evolution of the light curve is due to the passage of the cooling frequency: its origin must be geometric or dynamical. We interpret all the existing afterglow data with two models: i) a structured jet and ii) a jet-less isotropic fireball with some stratification in its radial velocity structure. Both models fit the data and predict that the radio flux must decrease simultaneously with the optical and X-ray emission, making it difficult to distinguish between them at the present stage. Polarimetric measurements and the rate of short GRB-GW associations in future LIGO/Virgo runs will be key to disentangle these two geometrically different scenarios.
Detection of prompt emission by Swift-XRT provides a unique tool to study how the prompt spectrum of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) extends down to the soft X-ray band. This energy band is particularly ...important for prompt emission studies, since it is towards low energies that the observed spectral shape is in disagreement with the synchrotron predictions. Unfortunately, the number of cases where XRT started observing the GRB location during the prompt phase is very limited. In this work, we collect a sample of 34 GRBs and perform joint XRT+BAT spectral analysis of prompt radiation, extending a previous study focused on the 14 brightest cases. Fermi-GBM observations are included in the analysis when available (11 cases), allowing the characterization of prompt spectra from soft X-rays to MeV energies. In 62% of the spectra, the XRT data reveal a hardening of the spectrum, well described by introducing an additional, low-energy power-law segment (with index α1) into the empirical fitting function. The break energy below which the spectrum hardens has values between 3 keV and 22 keV. A second power-law (α2) describes the spectrum between the break energy and the peak energy. The mean values of the photon indices are 〈α1〉 = −0.51 (σ = 0.24) and 〈α2〉 = −1.56 (σ = 0.26). These are consistent, within one σ, with the synchrotron values in fast cooling regime. As a test, if we exclude XRT data from the fits we find typical results: the spectrum below the peak energy is described by a power law with 〈α〉 = −1.15. This shows the relevance of soft X-ray data in revealing prompt emission spectra consistent with synchrotron spectra. Finally, we do not find any correlation between the presence of the X-ray break energy and the flux, fluence, or duration of the prompt emission.
Knowledge of the bulk Lorentz factor Γ0 of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) allows us to compute their comoving frame properties shedding light on their physics. Upon collisions with the circumburst matter, ...the fireball of a GRB starts to decelerate, producing a peak or a break (depending on the circumburst density profile) in the light curve of the afterglow. Considering all bursts with known redshift and with an early coverage of their emission, we find 67 GRBs (including one short event) with a peak in their optical or GeV light curves at a time tp. For another 106 GRBs we set an upper limit tpUL. The measure of tp provides the bulk Lorentz factor Γ0 of the fireball before deceleration. We show that tp is due to the dynamics of the fireball deceleration and not to the passage of a characteristic frequency of the synchrotron spectrum across the optical band. Considering the tp of 66 long GRBs and the 85 most constraining upper limits, we estimate Γ0 or a lower limit Γ0LL. Using censored data analysis methods, we reconstruct the most likely distribution of tp. All tp are larger than the time Tp,γ when the prompt γ-ray emission peaks, and are much larger than the time Tph when the fireball becomes transparent, that is, tp>Tp,γ>Tph. The reconstructed distribution of Γ0 has median value ~300 (150) for a uniform (wind) circumburst density profile. In the comoving frame, long GRBs have typical isotropic energy, luminosity, and peak energy ⟨ Eiso ⟩ = 3(8) × 1050 erg, ⟨ Liso ⟩ = 3(15) × 1047 erg s-1, and ⟨ Epeak ⟩ = 1(2) keV in the homogeneous (wind) case. We confirm that the significant correlations between Γ0 and the rest frame isotropic energy (Eiso), luminosity (Liso), and peak energy (Ep) are not due to selection effects. When combined, they lead to the observed Ep−Eiso and Ep−Liso correlations. Finally, assuming a typical opening angle of 5 degrees, we derive the distribution of the jet baryon loading which is centered around a few 10-6M⊙.
We studied all blazars of known redshift detected by the Fermi satellite during its first 3-month survey. For the majority of them, pointed Swift observations ensure a good multiwavelength coverage, ...enabling us to reliably construct their spectral energy distributions (SEDs). We model the SEDs using a one-zone leptonic model and study the distributions of the derived interesting physical parameters as a function of the observed γ-ray luminosity. We confirm previous findings concerning the relation of the physical parameters with source luminosity which are at the origin of the blazar sequence. The SEDs allow to estimate the luminosity of the accretion disc for the majority of broad emitting line blazars, while for the lineless BL Lac objects in the sample upper limits can be derived. We find a positive correlation between the jet power and the luminosity of the accretion disc in broad-line blazars. In these objects, we argue that the jet must be proton dominated, and that the total jet power is of the same order of (or slightly larger than) the disc luminosity. We discuss two alternative scenarios to explain this result.
TeV photons from blazars at relatively large distances, interacting with the optical–infrared cosmic background, are efficiently converted into electron–positron pairs. The produced pairs are ...extremely relativistic (Lorentz factors of the order of 106– 107) and promptly lose their energy through inverse Compton scatterings with the photons of the microwave cosmic background, producing emission in the GeV band. The spectrum and the flux level of this reprocessed emission are critically dependent on the intensity of the intergalactic magnetic field, B, that can deflect the pairs diluting the intrinsic emission over a large solid angle. We derive a simple relation for the reprocessed spectrum expected from a steady source. We apply this treatment to the blazar 1ES0229+200, whose intrinsic, very hard TeV spectrum is expected to be approximately steady. Comparing the predicted reprocessed emission with the upper limits measured by the Fermi/Large Area Telescope, we constrain the value of the intergalactic magnetic field to be larger than B≃ 5 × 10−15 G, depending on the model of extragalactic background light.
We discuss the new surprising observational results that indicate quite convincingly that the prompt emission of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) is due to synchrotron radiation produced by a particle ...distribution that has a low-energy cut-off. The evidence of this is provided by the low-energy part of the spectrum of the prompt emission, which shows the characteristic
F
ν
∝
ν
1/3
shape followed by
F
ν
∝
ν
−1/2
up to the peak frequency. This implies that although the emitting particles are in fast cooling, they do not cool completely. This poses a severe challenge to the basic ideas about how and where the emission is produced, because the incomplete cooling requires a small value of the magnetic field to limit synchrotron cooling, and a large emitting region to limit the self-Compton cooling, even considering Klein–Nishina scattering effects. Some new and fundamental ingredient is required for understanding the GRBs prompt emission. We propose proton–synchrotron as a promising mechanism to solve the incomplete cooling puzzle.
Detections of gravitational waves (GWs) may soon uncover the signal from the coalescence of a black hole–neutron star (BHNS) binary, which is expected to be accompanied by an electromagnetic (EM) ...signal. In this paper, we present a composite semi-analytical model to predict the properties of the expected EM counterpart from BHNS mergers, focusing on the kilonova emission and on the gamma-ray burst afterglow. Four main parameters rule the properties of the EM emission: the NS mass
M
NS
, its tidal deformability
Λ
NS
, the BH mass and spin. Only for certain combinations of these parameters an EM counterpart is produced. Here we explore the parameter space, and construct light curves, analyzing the dependence of the EM emission on the NS mass and tidal deformability. Exploring the NS parameter space limiting to
M
NS
-
Λ
NS
pairs described by a physically motivated equations of state (EoS), we find that the brightest EM counterparts are produced in binaries with low-mass NSs (fixing the BH properties and the EoS). Using constraints on the NS EoS from GW170817, our modeling shows that the emission falls in a narrow range of absolute magnitudes. Within the range of explored parameters, light curves and peak times are not dissimilar to those from NSNS mergers, except in the B band. The lack of an hyper/supra-massive NS in BHNS coalescences causes a dimming of the blue kilonova emission in the absence of the neutrino interaction with the ejecta.
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