Very High Lorentz Factor Fireballs and Gamma-Ray Burst Spectra
Abstract
Collisionless entrainment of the surrounding matter imports the relativistic baryon component in the Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) fireball frame. We show that half the fireball energy can be transferred from radiation to the comoving hot motions of baryons under the photosphere. The yet baryon-poor fireball can reexpand to a very high Lorentz factor (VHLF) Γ ∼ 10^3-10^6 by its own relativistic collisionless pressure beyond the photosphere (so-called collisionless bulk acceleration), leading to internal and external shocks. A simple synchrotron emission from the VHLF internal shocks produces (i) the extra power-law spectral component with variability observed in the Fermi GeV bursts, up to the TeV range for the future Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), (ii) the GeV onset delay with a weak luminosity dependence t_{delay} ∼ L^{-1/5}, and (iii) the spectral break of GRB 090926 by the synchrotron cooling break or the maximum synchrotron cutoff limited by the dynami
cal time, not by the e^{±} creation cutoff. The relativistic baryon component could also heat the photospheric thermal photons into the main GRB Band spectrum via pp, pγ (Bethe-Heitler and photomeson), and Coulomb thermalization processes. In this hot photosphere-internal-external shock model, we can predict the anticorrelation of ∼TeV neutrinos and GeV γ-rays, which may be detectable using IceCube. The spectral peak and luminosity (Yonetoku) relation is also reproduced if the progenitor stars are nearly identical. We also discuss the steep/shallow decay of early X-ray afterglows and short GRBs.- Publication:
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Progress of Theoretical Physics
- Pub Date:
- October 2010
- DOI:
- 10.1143/PTP.124.667
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1006.3073
- Bibcode:
- 2010PThPh.124..667I
- Keywords:
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- Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
- E-Print:
- 21 pages, 6 figures, final version to be published in Progress of Theoretical Physics