scholarly journals Magnetic Fields, Accretion, and the Central Engine of Gamma-Ray Bursts

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. R. King
2020 ◽  
Vol 499 (4) ◽  
pp. 5986-5992
Author(s):  
Nikhil Sarin ◽  
Paul D Lasky ◽  
Gregory Ashton

ABSTRACT The spin-down energy of millisecond magnetars has been invoked to explain X-ray afterglow observations of a significant fraction of short and long gamma-ray bursts. Here, we extend models previously introduced in the literature, incorporating radiative losses with the spin-down of a magnetar central engine through an arbitrary braking index. Combining this with a model for the tail of the prompt emission, we show that our model can better explain the data than millisecond-magnetar models without radiative losses or those that invoke spin-down solely through vacuum dipole radiation. We find that our model predicts a subset of X-ray flares seen in some gamma-ray bursts. We can further explain the diversity of X-ray plateaus by altering the radiative efficiency and measure the braking index of newly born millisecond magnetars. We measure the braking index of GRB061121 as $n=4.85^{+0.11}_{-0.15}$ suggesting the millisecond-magnetar born in this gamma-ray burst spins down predominantly through gravitational-wave emission.


2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (S290) ◽  
pp. 263-264
Author(s):  
Liang Li ◽  
En-Wei Liang ◽  
He Gao ◽  
Bing Zhang

AbstractWell-sampled optical lightcurves of 146 gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are compiled from literature. We identify possible emission components based on our empirical fits and present statistical analysis for these components. We find that the flares are related to prompt emission, suggesting that they could have the same origin in different episodes. The shallow decay segment is not correlated with prompt gamma-rays. It likely signals a long-lasting injected wind from GRB central engines. Early after onset peak is closely related with prompt emission. The ambient medium density profile is likely n ∝ r−1. No correlation between the late re-brightening bump and prompt gamma-rays or the onset bump is found. They may be from another jet component.


2021 ◽  
Vol 922 (2) ◽  
pp. 102
Author(s):  
Shu-Jin Hou ◽  
Shuang Du ◽  
Tong Liu ◽  
Hui-Jun Mu ◽  
Ren-Xin Xu

Abstract The central engine of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) remains an open and cutting-edge topic in the era of multimessenger astrophysics. X-ray plateaus appear in some GRB afterglows, which are widely considered to originate from the spindown of magnetars. According to the stable magnetar scenario of GRBs, an X-ray plateau and a decay phase ∼t −2 should appear in X-ray afterglows. Meanwhile, the “normal” X-ray afterglow is produced by the external shock from a GRB fireball. We analyze the Neil Gehrels Swift GRB data, then find three gold samples that have an X-ray plateau and a decay phase ∼t −2 superimposed on the jet-driven normal component. Based on these features of the lightcurves, we argue that the magnetars should be the central engines of these three GRBs. Future joint multimessenger observations might further test this possibility, which can then be beneficial to constrain GRB physics.


Author(s):  
Jonathan Granot ◽  
Tsvi Piran ◽  
Omer Bromberg ◽  
Judith L. Racusin ◽  
Frédéric Daigne

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shiho Kobayashi ◽  
Yong-Feng Huang ◽  
Zi-Gao Dai ◽  
Bing Zhang

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