Time-resolved Spectral Properties of Fermi-GBM Bright Long Gamma-Ray Bursts

The prompt emission mechanism of gamma-ray bursts(GRBs)is still unclear,and the time-resolved spectral analysis of GRBs is a powerful tool for studying their underlying physical processes.We performed a detailed time-resolved spectral analysis of 78 bright long GRB samples detected by Fermi/Gamma-ray Burst Monitor.A total of 1490 spectra were obtained and their properties were studied using a typical Band-shape model.First,the parameter distributions of the time-resolved spectrum are given as follows:the low-energy spectral indexα~-0.72,high-energy spectral indexβ~2.42,the peak energy E_(p)~221.69 keV,and the energy flux F~7.49×10^(-6)erg cm^(-2)s^(-1).More than 80%of the bursts exhibit the hardest low-energy spectral indexα_(max),exceeding the synchrotron limit(-2/3).Second,the evolution patterns of a and E_(p)were statistically analyzed.The results show that for multi-pulse GRBs the intensity-tracking pattern is more common than the hard-to-soft pattern in the evolution of both E_(p)andα.The hard-to-soft pattern is generally shown in single-pulse GRBs or in the initial pulse of multi-pulse GRBs.Finally,we found a significant positive correlation between F and E_(p),with half of the samples exhibiting a positive correlation between F andα.We discussed the spectral evolution of different radiation models.The diversity of spectral evolution patterns indicates that there may be more than one radiation mechanism occurring in the GRB radiation process,including photo spheric radiation and synchrotron radiation.However,it may also involve only one radiation mechanism,but more complicated physical details need to be considered.

Constraining Lorentz Invariance Violation Using Short Gamma-Ray Bursts

Lorentz Invariance is a foundational principle in modern physics, but some recent quantum gravity theories have hinted that it may be violated at extremely high energies. Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) provide a promising tool for checking and constraining any deviations from Lorentz Invariance due to their huge energies and cosmological distances. Gamma-ray bursts, which are the most intense and powerful explosions in the universe, are traditionally divided into long bursts whose observed duration exceeds 2 s, and short bursts whose observed duration is less than 2 s. In this study, we employ a recent sample of 46 short GRBs to check for any deviation from Lorentz Invariance. We analyze the spectral lag of the bursts in our data sample and check for any redshift dependence in the GRB rest frame, which would indicate a violation of Lorentz Invariance. Our results are consistent, to within 1σ, with no deviation from Lorentz Invariance.

Relationships between Relative Spectral Lags and Relative Widths of Gamma-ray Bursts

The phenomenon of gamma-ray burst （GRB） spectral lags is very common, but a definitive explanation has not yet been given. From a sample of 82 GRB pulses we find that the spectral lags are correlated with the pulse widths, however, there is no correlation between the relative spectral lags and the relative pulse widths. We suspect that the correlations between spectral lags and pulse widths might be caused by the Lorentz factor of the GRBs concerned. Our analysis on the relative quantities suggests that the intrinsic spectral lag might reflect other aspect of pulses than the aspect associated with the dynamical time of shocks or that associated with the time delay due to the curvature effect.

A Close Correlation between the Spectral Lags and Redshifts of Gamma-Ray Bursts

Based on nine BATSE GRBs with known redshifts, we found that the maximum spectral lag of all the pulses in a gamma-ray burst （GRB） appears to be anti-correlated with the redshift of the burst. In order to confirm this finding, we analyzed 10 GRBs detected by HETE-2 with known redshifts and found a similar relation. Using the relation, we estimated the redshifts of 878 long GRBs in the BATSE catalog, then we investigated the distributions of the redshifts and 869 Eiso of these GRBs. The distribution of the estimated redshifts is concentrated at z = 1.4 and the distribution of Eiso peaks at 10^52.5 erg. The underlying physics of the correlation is unclear at present.

Extending the correlation of L_R-L_X to gamma-ray bursts

The well-known correlation between radio luminosity （LR） and X-ray luminosity （Lx）, LR/LX 10^-5, holds for a variety of objects, such as active galactic nuclei, Galactic black holes, solar flares and cool stars. Here we extend the relation to gamma-ray bursts （GRBs） and find that the GRBs also obey a similar LR - LX relation, with a slightly different slope of LR ∝ LX^1.1. This relation implies that the explosions that occur on different scales may have a common underlying origin.

An Amati-Like Correlation for Short Gamma-Ray Bursts

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are by far the most powerful explosions in the universe. Over the past two decades, several GRB energy and luminosity correlations were discovered for long gamma-ray bursts, which are bursts whose observed duration exceeds 2 seconds. One important correlation, the Amati relation, involves the observed peak energy, Ep,obs, in the vFv spectrum and the equivalent isotropic energy, Eiso. For many years, it was believed that the Amati correlation applied only to long GRBs. In this paper, we use a recent data sample that includes both long and short GRBs to re-examine the issue of whether the Amati correlation applies to long GRBs only. Our results indicate that although short bursts do not follow the Amati relation in the strict sense, they do exhibit a correlation between the intrinsic peak energy, Ep,i, and Eiso that is very similar to the Amati relation but with a different normalization and slope. The paper also discusses the physical interpretation of this correlation in the context of the internal shock model.

Revise Thermal Winds of Remnant Neutron Stars in Gamma-Ray Bursts

It seems that the wealth of information revealed by the multi-messenger observations of the binary neutron star(NS)merger event,GW170817/GRB 170817A/kilonova AT2017gfo,places irreconcilable constraints to models of the prompt emission of this gamma-ray burst(GRB).The observed time delay between the merger of the two NSs and the trigger of the GRB and the thermal tail of the prompt emission can hardly be reproduced by these models simultaneously.We argue that the merger remnant should be an NS(last for,at least,a large fraction of 1 s),and that the difficulty can be alleviated by the delayed formation of the accretion disk due to the absorption of high-energy neutrinos emitted by the NS and the delayed emergence of effective viscosity in the disk.Further,we extend the consideration of the effect of the energy deposition of neutrinos emitted from the NS.If the NS is the central object of a GRB with a distance and duration similar to that of GRB 170817A,thermal emission of the thermal bubble inflated by the NS after the termination of accretion may be detectable.If our scenario is verified,it would be of interest to investigate the cooling of nascent NSs.

Redshift Dependence of the Low-energy Spectral Index of Gamma-Ray Bursts Revisited

A negative correlation was found to exist between the low-energy spectral index and the redshift of gamma-ray bursts(GRBs)by Amati et al.It was later confirmed by Geng&Huang and Gruber et al.,but the correlation was also found to be quite dispersive when the sample size was significantly expanded.In this study,we have established two even larger samples of GRBs to further examine the correlation.One of our samples consists of316 GRBs detected by the Swift satellite,and the other one consists of 80 GRBs detected by the Fermi satellite.It is found that there is no correlation between the two parameters for the Swift sample,but there does exist a weak negative correlation for the Fermi sample.The correlation becomes even more significant when the spectral index at the peak flux is considered.It is argued that the absence of the correlation in the Swift sample may be due to the fact that Swift has a very narrow energy response so that it could not measure the low-energy spectral index accurately enough.Further studies based on even larger GRB samples are solicited.

Gamma-Ray Bursts and Fermi Bubbles

According to a recent calculation, 1058 erg of radiant energy was released by Sgr A*, when it formed the Fermi bubbles. Here, it is argued that this explosion constituted a long gamma-ray burst. .

Relative Spectral Lag: a New Redshift Indicator of Gamma-ray Bursts

Using 64 ms count data of long gamma-ray bursts （T90 〉 2.6 s）, we analyze the quantity named relative spectral lag （RSL）, T31/FWHM（1）. We investigated in detail all the correlations between the RSL and other parameters for a sample of nine long bursts, using the general cross-correlation technique that includes the lag between two different energy bands. We conclude that the distribution of RSLs is normal and has a mean value of 0.1; that the RSLs are weakly correlated with the FWHM, the asymmetry, peak flux （Fp）, peak energy （Ep） and spectral indexes （α and β）, while they are uncorrelated with τ31, the hardness- ratio （HR31） and the peak time （tm）. Our important discovery is that redshift （z） and peak luminosity （Lp） are strongly correlated with the RSL, which can be measured easily and directly, making the RSL a good redshift and peak luminosity indicator.

Redshift Independence of the Amati and Yonetoku Relations for Gamma-Ray Bursts

The Amati and Yonetoku relations are two of the main energy and luminosity correlations that currently exist for gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). The Amati relation is a correlation between the intrinsic peak energy, Epeak, in the vFv spectrum of a burst and its equivalent isotropic energy, Eiso. The Yonetoku relation is a correlation between Epeak and the isotropic peak luminosity, Liso. In this paper, we use a recent data sample of 65 GRBs to investigate whether these two relations evolve with redshift, z. The z-correction and the?k-correction are both taken into account. Our method consists of binning the data in redshift, z, then applying (for each bin) a fit of the form:?log(Eiso) = A + Blog(Epeak/Epeak>) for the Amati relation, and of the form:?log(Liso) = A + Blog(Epeak/Epeak>) for the Yonetoku relation, where Epeak> is the mean value of the peak energy for the entire sample. The objective is to see whether the two fitting parameters, A and B, evolve systematically with z. Good least-squares fits were obtained with reasonable values for the linear regression coefficient, r. Our results indicate that the normalization, A, and the slope, B, do not evolve with redshift, and hence the Amati and Yonetoku relations seem to be redshift independent.

Peak Energy Correlations for Gamma-Ray Bursts

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the most powerful explosions in the universe. Over the past two decades, several GRB energy and luminosity correlations were discovered. These correlations typically involve an observable parameter, like the observed peak energy, Ep,obs, and a non-observable quantity, like the equivalent isotropic energy, Eiso. This paper provides a brief review of GRB peak energy correlations. Specifically, it focuses on the Amati relation, which correlates Ep,obs and Eiso, and the Ghirlanda relation, which correlates Ep,obs and Ey, the total energy corrected for beaming. The paper also discusses the physical interpretation of these relations in the context of the internal shock model.

Can the bump in the composite spectrum of GRB 910503 be an emission line feature of gamma-ray bursts?

Appearing in the composite spectral data of BATSE, EGRET and COMPTEL for GRB 910503, there is a bump at around 1600keV. We perform a statistical analysis on the spectral data, trying to find out if the bump could be accounted for by a blue-shifted and significantly broadened rest frame line due to the Doppler effect of an expanding fireball surface. We made an F-test and adopted previously proposed criteria. The study reveals that the criteria are well satisfied and the feature can be interpreted as the blue shifted 6.4 keV line. From the fit with this line taken into account, we find the Lorentz factor of this source to be F = 116-9^＋9 （at the 68% confident level, △X^2 = 1） and the rest frame spectral peak energy to be E0,p=2.96-0.18^＋0.24 ke V.Although the existence of the emission line feature requires other independent tests to confirm, the analysis suggests that it is feasible to detect emission line features in the high energy range of GRB spectra when taking into account the Doppler effect of fireball expansion.

The correlations among variability,optical peak time and spectral time lag of long gamma-ray bursts

Statistical relations are useful tools to comprehend the intrinsic physics processes of gamma-ray bursts(GRBs). In this work we collect spectral lag(τ), variability(V) and optical peak time(tp,o). We find that there is a correlation between variabilities and spectral lags, reading as V =-0.0075(±0.0007) ×log10τ +0.0351(±0.0024). There may also exist a relatively weak positive tendency between GRBs optical band peak times and their spectral time lags. Its Pearson coefficient is 0.398, which indicates a weak linear correlation. If we contain some "negative spectral lag" samples, then the latter relation would be worse due to two outlying points. The τ-V relation is consistent with previous studies, and the positive trend betweenτ and tp,oindicates the spectral lag of GRB might be caused by the curvature effect, but this conclusion is not significant.

Gamma-ray bursts with extended emission:classifications, energy correlations and radiation properties

Thanks to more and more gamma-ray bursts with measured redshift and extended emission detected by the recent space telescopes,it is urgent and possible to check whether those previous energy correlations still satisfy the particular sample involving only the bursts accompanied by tail radiations.Using 20 long and 22 short bursts with extended emission,we find that the popular γ-ray energy correlations of the intrinsic peak energy versus the isotropic energy(Amati relation) and the intrinsic peak energy versus the peak luminosity(Yonetoku relation) do exist in both short and long bursts.However,it is much better if these gamma-ray bursts with extended emissions are reclassified into two subgroups of E-Ⅰ and E-Ⅱ that make the above energy correlations more tight.As proposed by Zhang et al.,the energy correlations can be utilized to distinguish these kinds of gamma-ray bursts in the plane of bolometric fluence versus peak energy as well.Interestingly,the peculiar short GRB 170817 A belongs to the E-Ⅰ group in the fluence versus peak energy plane,but it is an outlier of both the Amati and Yonetoku relations even though the off-axis effect has been corrected.Furthermore,we compare the radiation features between the extended emissions and the prompt gamma-rays in order to search for their possible connections.Taking into account all these factors,we conclude that gamma-ray bursts with extended emission are still required to model with dichotomic groups,namely E-Ⅰ and E-Ⅱ classes,which hint that they might have different origins.

Lsyn-Esyn,p-δrelation in active galactic nucleus jets and implication for the physical origin of the Lp-Ep,z-Γ_0 relation of gamma-ray bursts

High energy photon radiations of gamma-ray bursts(GRBs)and active galactic nuclei(AGNs)are dominated by their jet radiations.We examine whether the synchrotron radiations of jets in BL Lacs,flat spectrum radio quasars(FSRQs),and Narrow Line Seyfert 1 galaxies(NLS1s)follow the relation between the prompt gamma-ray emission and the initial Lorentz factor(Γ0)of GRBs.It is shown that the AGN sample does not agree with the Lp-Ep,z-Γ0 relation of GRBs.In addition,we obtain a tight relation of Lsyn∝Е0.45±0.15δ3.50±0.25 syn,p for FSRQs and NLS1 galaxies,where Lsyn is the luminosity at peak photon energy Esyn,p of the synchrotron radiations.This relation is different from the Lp-Ep,z-Γ0 relation of GRB s.The dependence of Lsyn toδis consistent with the expectation of the Doppler boosting effect for the FSRQs and NLS1 galaxies,but it is not for GRBs.We argue thatΓ0 may be a representative of the kinetic power of the radiating region and the tight Lp-Ep,z-Γ0 relation is shaped by the radiation physics and the jet power together.

A One-Dimensional Relativistic Shock Model for the Light Curve of Gamma-ray Bursts

We investigate the forming of gamma-ray burst pulses with a simple onedimensional relativistic shock model. The mechanism is that a ＂central engine＂ drives forward the nearby plasma inside the fireball to generate a series of pressure waves. We give a relativistic geometric recurrence formula that connects the time when the pressure waves are produced and the time when the corresponding shocks occurred. This relation enables us to relate the pulse magnitude with the observation time. Our analysis shows that the evolution of the pressure waves leads to a fast rise and an exponential decay pulses. In determining the width of the pulses, the acceleration time is more important than that of the deceleration.

A Test on Different Types of the Time Curve of Hardness Ratio of Gamma-Ray Bursts based on the Curvature Effect

We analyzed a sample of 66 gamma-ray bursts （GRBs） and statistically confirmed the prediction on the time curve of the hardness ratio of GRBs made by Qin et al. based on the curvature effect. In their analysis, GRB pulses are divided into three types according to the shape of their raw hardness ratio （RHR） time curves, defined as to include the background counts to the signal counts, so as to make use of counts within small time intervals. Of the three types, very hard sources exhibit a perfect pulse-like profile （type 1）, hard bursts possess a pulse-like profile with a dip in the decay phase （type 2）, and soft bursts show no pulse-like profile but have only a dipped profile （type 3）. In terms of the conventional hardness ratio, type 3 sources are indeed generally softer than those of type 1 and type 2, in agreement with the prediction. We found that the minimum value of RHR is sensitive in distinguishing the different types. We propose that GRB pulses can be classified according to the minimum value of RHR and that the different type sources may be connected with different strengths of the shock or/and the magnetic field.

The isotropic energy function and formation rate of short gamma-ray bursts

Gamma-ray bursts(GRBs)are brief,intense,gamma-ray flashes in the universe,lasting from a few milliseconds to a few thousand seconds.For short gamma-ray bursts(sGRBs)with duration less than 2 seconds,the isotropic energy(E_(iso))function may be more scientifically meaningful and accurately measured than the luminosity(Lp)function.In this work we construct,for the first time,the isotropic energy function of s GRBs and estimate their formation rate.First,we derive the L_(p)-E_(p) correlation using 22 s GRBs with known redshifts and well-measured spectra and estimate the pseduo redshifts of 334 Fermi s GRBs.Then,we adopt the Lynden-Bell c-method to study isotropic energy functions and formation rate of s GRBs without any assumption.A strong evolution of isotropic energy E_(iso)∝(1+z)^(5.79) is found,which is comparable to that between L_(p) and z.After removing effect of the cosmic evolution,the isotropic energy function can be reasonably fitted by a broken power law,which is φ(E_(iso,0))∝E_(iso,0)^(-0.045) for dim sGRBs andφ(E_(iso,0))∝E_(iso,0)^(-1.11) for bright sGRBs,with the break energy 4.92×10^(49)erg.We obtain the local formation rate of s GRBs is about 17.43 events Gpc^(-3)yr^(-1).If assuming a beaming angle is 6° to 26°,the local formation rate including off-axis s GRBs is estimated as ρ_(0,all)=155.79-3202.35 events Gpc^(-3)yr^(-1).

Gamma-ray bursts and their links with supernovae and cosmology

Gamma-ray bursts are the most luminous explosions in the Universe, whose origin and mechanism are the focus of intense interest. They appear connected to su- pernova remnants from massive stars or the merger of their remnants, and their bright- ness makes them temporarily detectable out to the largest distances yet explored in the universe. After pioneering breakthroughs from space and ground experiments, their study is entering a new phase with observations from the recently launched Fermi satellite, as well as the prospect of detections or limits from large neutrino and gravitational wave detectors. The interplay between such observations and theoretical models of gamma-ray bursts is reviewed, and cosmology. as well as their connections to supernovae