GRB 200612A:An Ultralong Gamma-Ray Burst Powered by Magnetar Spinning Down

GRB 200612A could be classified as an ultralong gamma-ray burst due to its prompt emission lasting up to~1020 s and the true timescale of the central engine activity t_(burst)≥4×10^(4) s.The late X-ray light curve with a decay index ofα=7.53 is steeper than the steepest possible decay from an external shock model.We propose that this X-ray afterglow can be driven by dipolar radiation from the magnetar spindown during its early stage,while the magnetar collapsed into the black hole before its spindown,resulting in a very steep decay of the late X-ray light curve.The optical data show that the light curve is still rising after 1.1 ks,suggesting a late onset.We show that GRB 200612A’s optical afterglow light curve is fitted with the forward shock model by Gaussian structured off-axis jet.This is a special case among GRBs,as it may be an ultralong gamma-ray burst powered by a magnetar in an off-axis observation scenario.

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.

GRB 220408B:A Three-episode Burst from a Precessing Jet

Jet precession has previously been proposed to explain the apparently repeating features in the light curves of a few gamma-ray bursts(GRBs).In this paper,we further apply the precession model to a bright GRB 220408B by examining both its temporal and spectral consistency with the predictions of the model.As one of the recently confirmed GRBs observed by our GRID CubeSat mission,GRB 220408B is noteworthy as it exhibits three apparently similar emission episodes.Furthermore,the similarities are reinforced by their strong temporal correlations and similar features in terms of spectral evolution and spectral lags.Our analysis demonstrates that these features can be well explained by the modulated emission of a Fast-Rise-Exponential-Decay(FRED)shape light curve intrinsically produced by a precessing jet with a precession period of 18.4_(-0.2)~(+0.2)s,a nutation period of11.1_(-0.2)~(+0.2)s and viewed off-axis.This study provides a straightforward explanation for the complex yet similar multiepisode GRB light curves.

A Possible γ-Ray Pulsation from PSR J1740-5340B in the Globular Cluster NGC 6397

Recently, a new radio millisecond pulsar(MSP) J1740-5340B, hosted in the globular cluster(GC) NGC 6397,was reported with a 5.78 ms spin period in an eclipsing binary system with a 1.97 days orbital period. Based on a modified radio ephemeris updated by tool tempo2, we analyze the ~15 yr γ-ray data obtained from the Large Area Telescope on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and detect PSR J1740-5340B's γ-ray pulsation at a confidence level of ~4σ with a weighted H-test value of ~26. By performing a phase-resolved analysis, the γ-ray luminosity in on-pulse interval of PSR J1740-5340B is L_(γ)~ 3.8 × 10^(33) erg s^(-1) using NGC 6397's distance of 2.48 kpc. And γ-rays from the on-pulse part of PSR J1740-5340B contribute ~90% of the total observed γ-ray emissions from NGC 6397. No significant γ-ray pulsation of another MSP J1740-5340A in the GC is detected.Considering that the previous four cases of MSPs in GCs, more data in γ-ray, X-ray, and radio are encouraged to finally confirm the γ-ray emissions from MSP J1740-5340B, especially starving for a precise ephemeris.

Probing the Progenitor of High-z Short-duration GRB 201221D and its Possible Bulk Acceleration in Prompt Emission

The growing observed evidence shows that the long-and short-duration gamma-ray bursts(GRBs) originate from massive star core-collapse and the merger of compact stars,respectively.GRB 201221 D is a short-duration GRB lasting~0.1 s without extended emission at high redshift z=1.046.By analyzing data observed with the Swift/BAT and Fermi/GBM,we find that a cutoff power-law model can adequately fit the spectrum with a soft E=113keV,and isotropic energy E=1.36× 10erg.In order to reveal the possible physical origin of GRB 201221 D,we adopted multi-wavelength criteria(e.g.,Amati relation,ε-parameter,amplitude parameter,local event rate density,luminosity function,and properties of the host galaxy),and find that most of the observations of GRB 201221 D favor a compact star merger origin.Moreover,we find that α is larger than 2+βin the prompt emission phase which suggests that the emission region is possibly undergoing acceleration during the prompt emission phase with a Poynting-flux-dominated jet.

X-ray flares raising upon magnetar plateau as an implication of a surrounding disk of newborn magnetized neutron star

The X-ray flares have usually been ascribed to long-lasting activities of the central engine of gamma-ray bursts(GRBs),e.g.,fallback accretion.The GRB X-ray plateaus,however,favor a millisecond magnetar central engine.The fallback accretion can be significantly suppressed due to the propeller effect of a magnetar.Therefore,if the propeller regime cannot resist the mass flow onto the surface of the magnetar efficiently,the X-ray flares raising upon the magnetar plateau would be expected.In this work,such peculiar cases are connected to the accretion process of the magnetars,and an implication for magnetar-disc structure is given.We investigate the repeated accretion process with multi-flare GRB 050730,and give a discussion for the accretion-induced variation of the magnetic field in GRB 111209 A.Two or more flares exhibit in the GRB 050730,060607 A and 140304 A;by adopting magnetar mass M=1.4 M_(⊙)and radius R=12 km,the average mass flow rates of the corresponding surrounding disk are 3.53×10^(-4)M_(⊙)s^(-1).4.23×10^(-4)M_(⊙)s^(-1),and 4.33×10^(-4)M_(⊙)s^(-1),and the corresponding average sizes of the magnetosphere are 5.01×10^(6)cm,6.45 x 10^(-6)cm,and 1.09×10^(-7)cm,respectively.A statistic analysis that contains eight GRBs within 12 flares shows that the total mass loading in single flare is~2×10^(-5)M_(⊙).In the lost mass of a disk,there are about 0.1%used to feed a collimated jet.

GRB 190530A:From Precursor,Prompt Emission to Afterglow all Originated from Synchrotron Radiation

GRB 190530A was jointly observed by the High Energy X-ray Telescope of the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope(Insight-HXMT/HE)and the Ground-Based Wide-Angle Camera network(GWAC-N)with the extremely large field of view.After triggered by Insight-HXMT/HE and Fermi/GBM,we observed the optical emission of GRB 190530A,using the 30 cm telescope of GWAC(GWAC-F30)to search and locate its position.Subsequent observation of the late afterglow of GRB 190530A was made with the 2.16 m telescope at Xinglong Observatory.In this paper,we make a detailed exploration of the origin of GRB 190530A.In the prompt emission,a“double-tracking”pattern is presented both for the low-energy spectral indexαand the peak energy Epin the Band function with Insight-HXMT/HE and Fermi/GBM data;the results of GRB 190530A are consistent with the Amati and Yonetoku correlations;the spectral lag(τ)versus energy(E)can be estimated withτ=-3.0±0.06+(0.17±0.03)logE.The synchrotron radiation can account for the origin of GRB190530A prompt emission behaviors.Theαand Epof the precursor are essentially the same as that of the main prompt emission,implying that they have the same origin.For the afterglow,it can be described with the external forward shock model in ISM circumburst medium.In summary,from precursor,prompt emission to afterglow of GRB 190530A all originated from synchrotron radiation.

A magnetically driven origin for the low luminosity GRB 170817A associated with GW170817

The gamma-ray burst GR170817 A associated with GW170817 is subluminous and subenergetic compared with other typical short gamma-ray bursts. It may be due to a relativistic jet viewed off-axis, or a structured jet or cocoon emission. Giant flares from magnetars may possibly be ruled out.However, the luminosity and energetics of GRB 170817 A are coincident with those of magnetar giant flares. After the coalescence of a binary neutron star, a hypermassive neutron star may be formed. The hypermassive neutron star may have a magnetar-strength magnetic field. During the collapse of this hypermassive neutron star, magnetic field energy will also be released. This giant-flare-like event may explain the luminosity and energetics of GRB 170817 A. Bursts with similar luminosity and energetics are expected in future neutron star-neutron star or neutron star-black hole mergers.

Energy Conservation in the Thin Layer Approximation: IV. The Light Curve for Supernovae

The light curves (LC) for Supernova (SN) can be modeled adopting the conversion of the flux of kinetic energy into radiation. This conversion requires an analytical or a numerical law of motion for the expanding radius of the SN. In the framework of conservation of energy for the thin layer approximation, we present a classical trajectory based on a power law profile for the density, a relativistic trajectory based on the Navarro-Frenk-White profile for the density, and a relativistic trajectory based on a power law behaviour for the swept mass. A detailed simulation of the LC requires the evaluation of the optical depth as a function of time. We modeled the LC of SN 1993J in different astronomical bands, the LC of GRB 050814 and the LC GRB 060729 in the keV region. The time dependence of the magnetic field of equipartition is derived from the theoretical formula for the luminosity.

Relativistic Motion with Viscosity. I Newton’s Law of Resistance

The equation of motion for a relativistic neutral particle that moves in a medium characterized by a friction proportional to the square of the velocity is analyzed. The relativistic trajectory is derived in a numerical way and in the form of a Taylor series. The astrophysical applications cover the trajectory of SN 1993J and the light curve of gamma ray bursts.