On the Theory of Ring Afterglows
Synchrotron and inverse Compton emission successfully explain the observed spectra of gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows. It is thought that most GRBs are products of extremely relativistic outflows and the afterglow marks the interaction of that ejecta with the surrounding matter. A faster decay of a...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2023-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acffbc |
| _version_ | 1797650377940664320 |
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| author | Marcus DuPont Andrew MacFadyen Re’em Sari |
| author_facet | Marcus DuPont Andrew MacFadyen Re’em Sari |
| author_sort | Marcus DuPont |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Synchrotron and inverse Compton emission successfully explain the observed spectra of gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows. It is thought that most GRBs are products of extremely relativistic outflows and the afterglow marks the interaction of that ejecta with the surrounding matter. A faster decay of afterglow light curves at late times is indicative of nonspherical geometries, and is usually interpreted as evidence for jet geometry. Recent numerical simulations have shown that ring-like geometries are also permissible for relativistic outflows. We therefore extend the standard theory of afterglow evolution to ring geometries. An analytic prescription for the light curves and spectra produced by relativistic toroidal blast waves is presented. We compare these to their spherical and jet-like counterparts, and show that ring afterglows decay faster than spherical outflows but not as fast as jets. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T15:59:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ef7c57191baa440d929cdafb67b27d75 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T15:59:24Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-ef7c57191baa440d929cdafb67b27d752023-10-25T08:21:53ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572023-01-0195712910.3847/1538-4357/acffbcOn the Theory of Ring AfterglowsMarcus DuPont0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3356-880XAndrew MacFadyen1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0106-9013Re’em Sari2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1084-3656Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics, New York University , New York, NY 10003, USACenter for Cosmology and Particle Physics, New York University , New York, NY 10003, USARacah Institute, Hebrew University of Jerusalem , Jerusalem, 91904, IsraelSynchrotron and inverse Compton emission successfully explain the observed spectra of gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows. It is thought that most GRBs are products of extremely relativistic outflows and the afterglow marks the interaction of that ejecta with the surrounding matter. A faster decay of afterglow light curves at late times is indicative of nonspherical geometries, and is usually interpreted as evidence for jet geometry. Recent numerical simulations have shown that ring-like geometries are also permissible for relativistic outflows. We therefore extend the standard theory of afterglow evolution to ring geometries. An analytic prescription for the light curves and spectra produced by relativistic toroidal blast waves is presented. We compare these to their spherical and jet-like counterparts, and show that ring afterglows decay faster than spherical outflows but not as fast as jets.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acffbcGamma-ray burstsLight curvesRelativistic fluid dynamics |
| spellingShingle | Marcus DuPont Andrew MacFadyen Re’em Sari On the Theory of Ring Afterglows The Astrophysical Journal Gamma-ray bursts Light curves Relativistic fluid dynamics |
| title | On the Theory of Ring Afterglows |
| title_full | On the Theory of Ring Afterglows |
| title_fullStr | On the Theory of Ring Afterglows |
| title_full_unstemmed | On the Theory of Ring Afterglows |
| title_short | On the Theory of Ring Afterglows |
| title_sort | on the theory of ring afterglows |
| topic | Gamma-ray bursts Light curves Relativistic fluid dynamics |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acffbc |
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