Testing the blast wave model with Swift GRBs

The complex structure of the light curves of Swift GRBs (e.g. superimposed flares and shallow decay) has made their interpretationand that of the blast wave caused by the burst, more difficult than in the pre-Swift era. We aim to constrain the blast wave parameters:electron energy distribution, p, d...

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Main Authors: Curran, Peter, Starling, R., van der Horst, A., Wijers, R., De Pasqualea, M., Page, M.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Pergamon 2011
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273117710005193#
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/42938
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author Curran, Peter
Starling, R.
van der Horst, A.
Wijers, R.
De Pasqualea, M.
Page, M.
author_facet Curran, Peter
Starling, R.
van der Horst, A.
Wijers, R.
De Pasqualea, M.
Page, M.
author_sort Curran, Peter
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The complex structure of the light curves of Swift GRBs (e.g. superimposed flares and shallow decay) has made their interpretationand that of the blast wave caused by the burst, more difficult than in the pre-Swift era. We aim to constrain the blast wave parameters:electron energy distribution, p, density profile of the circumburst medium, k, and the continued energy injection index, q. We do so bycomparing the observed multi-wavelength light curves and X-ray spectra of a Swift sample to the predictions of the blast wave model.We can successfully interpret all of the bursts in our multi-wavelength sample of 10, except two, within the framework of the blastwave model, and we can estimate with confidence the electron energy distribution index for 6 of the sample. Furthermore we identify jetbreaks in almost half of the bursts. The values of k suggest that the circumburst density profiles are not drawn from only one of theconstant density or wind-like media populations. A statistical analysis of the distribution of p reveals that, even in the most conservativecase of least scatter, the values are not consistent with a single, universal value. This is in agreement with our results for a larger sample ofX-ray only afterglows which we summarise here.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-429382018-03-29T09:07:59Z Testing the blast wave model with Swift GRBs Curran, Peter Starling, R. van der Horst, A. Wijers, R. De Pasqualea, M. Page, M. Radiation mechanisms non-thermal X-rays bursts Gamma-rays bursts The complex structure of the light curves of Swift GRBs (e.g. superimposed flares and shallow decay) has made their interpretationand that of the blast wave caused by the burst, more difficult than in the pre-Swift era. We aim to constrain the blast wave parameters:electron energy distribution, p, density profile of the circumburst medium, k, and the continued energy injection index, q. We do so bycomparing the observed multi-wavelength light curves and X-ray spectra of a Swift sample to the predictions of the blast wave model.We can successfully interpret all of the bursts in our multi-wavelength sample of 10, except two, within the framework of the blastwave model, and we can estimate with confidence the electron energy distribution index for 6 of the sample. Furthermore we identify jetbreaks in almost half of the bursts. The values of k suggest that the circumburst density profiles are not drawn from only one of theconstant density or wind-like media populations. A statistical analysis of the distribution of p reveals that, even in the most conservativecase of least scatter, the values are not consistent with a single, universal value. This is in agreement with our results for a larger sample ofX-ray only afterglows which we summarise here. 2011 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/42938 10.1016/j.asr.2010.08.005 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273117710005193# Pergamon restricted
spellingShingle Radiation mechanisms non-thermal
X-rays bursts
Gamma-rays bursts
Curran, Peter
Starling, R.
van der Horst, A.
Wijers, R.
De Pasqualea, M.
Page, M.
Testing the blast wave model with Swift GRBs
title Testing the blast wave model with Swift GRBs
title_full Testing the blast wave model with Swift GRBs
title_fullStr Testing the blast wave model with Swift GRBs
title_full_unstemmed Testing the blast wave model with Swift GRBs
title_short Testing the blast wave model with Swift GRBs
title_sort testing the blast wave model with swift grbs
topic Radiation mechanisms non-thermal
X-rays bursts
Gamma-rays bursts
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273117710005193#
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/42938