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.

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.

Gamma-Ray Bursts: Afterglows and Central Engines

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the most intense transient gamma-ray events in the sky; this, together with the strong evidence (the isotropic and inhomogeneous distribution of GRBs detected by BASTE) that they are located at cosmological distances, makes them the most energetic events ever known. For example, the observed radiation energies of some GRBs are equivalent to the total convertion into radiation of the mass energy of more than one solar mass. This is thousand times stronger than the energy of a supernova explosion. Some unconventional energy mechanism and extremely high conversion efficiency for these mysterious events are required. The discovery of host galaxies and association with supernovae at cosmological distances by the recently launched satellite of BeppoSAX and ground based radio and optical telescopes in GRB afterglow provides further support to the cosmological origin of GRBs and put strong constraints on their central engine. It is the aim of this article to review the possible central engines, energy mechanisms, dynamical and spectral evolution of GRBs, especially focusing on the afterglows in multi-wavebands.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

GRB 210323A:Signature of Long-lasting Lifetime of Supra-massive Magnetar as the Central Engine from the Merger of Binary Neutron Star

Theoretically,a supra-massive neutron star or magnetar may be formed after the merger of binary neutron stars.GRB210323A is a short-duration gamma-ray burst(GRB)with a duration of lasting~1 s.The light curve of the prompt emission of GRB 210323A shows a signal-peaked structure and a cutoff power-law model can adequately fit the spectra with E_p=1826±747.More interestingly,it has an extremely long-lasting plateau emission in the X-ray afterglow with a duration of~10^(4)s,and then follows a rapid decay with a decay slope~3.2.This temporal feature is challenging by invoking the external shock mode.In this paper,we suggest that the observed long-lasting X-ray plateau emission is caused by the energy injection of dipole radiation from supra-massive magnetar,and the abrupt decay following the longlasting X-ray plateau emission is explained by supra-massive magnetar collapsing into a black hole.It is the short GRB(SGRB)with the longest X-ray internal plateau emission powered by a supra-massive neutron star.If this is the case,one can estimate the physical parameters of a supra-massive magnetar,and compare with other SGRBs.We also discuss the possible gravitational-wave emission,which is powered by a supra-massive magnetar and its detectability,and the possible kilonova emission,which is powered by r-process and magnetar spin-down to compare with the observed data.

Cylindrical Jet - Wind Interaction Model of Gamma-Ray Burst Afterglows

Observations on relativistic jets in radio galaxies, active galactic nuclei, and 'microquasars' revealed that many of these outflows are cylindrical, not conical. So it is worthwhile to investigate the evolution of cylindrical jets in gamma-ray bursts. We discuss afterglows from cylindrical jets in a wind environment. Numerical results as well as analytic solutions in some special cases are presented. Our light curves are steeper compared to those in the homogeneous interstellar medium case, carefully considered by Cheng, Huang & Lu. We conclude that some afterglows, used to be interpreted as isotropic fireballs in a wind environment, can be fitted as well by cylindrical jets interacting with a wind.

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.

Extinction of Beamed Gamma-ray Burst Afterglows in a Dense Circumstellar Cloud

Broadband afterglow observations provide a probe of the density structure of the circumburst medium. In the spreading jet model, prompt and intense X-ray/UV radiation from the reverse shock may destroy and clear the dust in the circumburst cloud out to about 30pc within the initial solid angle of the jet. As the jet expands significantly, optical radiation from the high-latitude part of the jet may suffer extinction by dust outside the initial solid angle, while radiation from the part within the initial solid angle can be observed without extinction. In previous studies, it is usually assumed that the extinction is complete. We calculate the extinction effect by taking the optical depth into account. Our numerical results show that a break appears in the light curve of optical afterglow but it extends over a factor of - 80 in time rather than a factor of - 10 in time for the case of strong dust extinction and a factor of - 60 in time for the case without dust extinction. These results may provide a way to judge how large the number density of the circumburst cloud is. Finally, we carry out a detailed modeling for the afterglow of GRB 000926. Our model can provide a good fit to the multi-color observations of this event.

Radio pulsars with expected gamma radiation and gamma-ray pulsars as pulsating radio emitters

Pulsars play a crucial astrophysical role as highly energetic compact radio, X-ray and gamma- ray sources. Our previous works show that radio pulsars identified as pulsing gamma-ray sources by the Large Area Telescope （LAT） on board the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope have high values of magnetic field near the light cylinder, two-three orders of magnitude stronger compared with the magnetic fields of radio pulsars： log Blc （G） are 3.60-3.95 and 1.75 correspondingly. Moreover, their losses of rotational energy are also three orders higher than the corresponding values for the main group of radio pulsars on average： logE（erg s-1） = 35.37-35.53 and 32.64. The correlation between gamma- ray luminosities and radio luminosities is found. It allows us to select those objects from all sets of known radio pulsars that can be detected as gamma-ray pulsars with high probability. We provide a list of such radio pulsars and propose to search for gamma emission from these objects. On the other hand, the known catalog of gamma-ray pulsars contains some sources which are not currently identified as radio pulsars. Some of them have large values of gamma-ray luminosities and according to the obtained correlation, we can expect marked radio emission from these objects. We give the list of such pulsars and expected flux densities to search for radiation at frequencies 1400 and 111 MHz.

Multi-wavelength emission from 3C 66A: clues to its redshift and gamma-ray emission location

The quasi-simultaneous multi-wavelength emission of TeV blazar 3C 66A is studied by using a one-zone multi-component leptonic jet model. It is found that the quasi-simultaneous spectral energy distribution of 3C 66A can be well reproduced; in particular, the first three months of its average Fermi-LAT spectrum can be well reproduced by the synchrotron self-Compton component plus external Compton component of the broad line region （BLR）. Clues to its redshift and gamma-ray emission location are obtained. The results indicate the following. （i） On the redshift： The theoretical intrinsic TeV spectra can be predicted by extrapolating the reproduced GeV spectra. Through comparing these extrapolated TeV spectra with the corrected observed TeV spectra from extragalactic background light, it is suggested that the redshift of 3C 66A could be between 0.1 and 0.3, with the most likely value being ~ 0.2. （ii） On the gamma-ray emission location： To well reproduce the GeV emission of 3C 66A under different assumptions on the BLR, the gamma-ray emission region is always required to be beyond the inner zone of the BLR. The BLR absorption effect on gamma-ray emission confirms this point.

GRB 210610B:The Internal and External Plateau as Evidence for the Delayed Outflow of Magnetar

After launching a jet,outflows of magnetar were used to account for the achromatic plateau of afterglow and the early X-ray flux plateau known as“internal plateau”.The lack of detecting magnetic dipole emission together with the energy injection feature in a single observation poses confusion until the long gamma-ray burst(GRB)210610B is detected.GRB 210610B is presented with an optical bump following an early X-ray plateau during the afterglow phase.The plateau followed by a steep decline flux overlays in the steadily decaying X-ray flux with indexα_(X,1)~2.06,indicating an internal origin and that can be fitted by the spin-down luminosity law with the initial plateau luminosity log_(10)L_(X)~48.29 erg s~(-1)and the characteristic spin-down timescale T~2818 s.A subsequent bump begins at~4000 s in the R band with a rising indexα_(R,1)~-0.30 and peaks at~14125 s,after which a decay indexα_(R,2)~0.87 and finally transiting to a steep decay withα_(R,3)~1.77 achieve the closure relation of the external shock for the normal decay phase as well as the magnetar spin-down energy injection phase,provided that the average value of the photon indexΓ_γ=1.80 derived from the spectral energy distributions(SEDs)between the X-ray and optical afterglow.The closure relation also works for the late X-ray flux.Akin to the traditional picture of GRB,the outflow powers the early X-ray plateau by dissipating energy internally and collides with the leading decelerating blast burst as time goes on,which could interpret the exotic feature of GRB 210610B.We carry out a Markov Chain Monte Carlo simulation and obtain a set of best parameters:■.The artificial light curve can fit the afterglow data well.After that,we estimated the average Lorentz factor and the X-ray radiation efficiency of the later ejecta are 35%and 0.13%,respectively.

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.

A two-step energy injection explanation for the rebrightenings of the multi-band afterglow of GRB 081029

The afterglow of GRB 081029 showed unusual behavior, with a signifi- cant rebrightening being observed at the optical wavelength at about 3000 s after the burst. One possible explanation is that the rebrightening resulted from an energy in- jection. Here we present a detailed numerical study of the energy injection process and interpret the X-ray and optical afterglow light curves of GRB 081029. In our model, we have assumed two periods of energy injection, each with a constant injec- tion power. One injection starts at 2.8 × 10^3 s and lasts for about 2500 s, with a power of 7.0 × 10^47 erg s-1. This energy injection mainly accounts for the rapid rebrighten- ing at about 3000 s. The other injection starts at 8.0 × 10^3 s and lasts for about 5000 s. The injection power is 3.5 × 10^47 erg s-1. This energy injection can help to explain the slight rebrightening at about 10 000 s. It is shown that the observed optical after- glow, especially the marked rebrightening at about 3000 s, can be reproduced well. In the X-ray band, the predicted amplitude of the rebrightening is much shallower, which is also consistent with the observed X-ray afterglow light curve. It is argued that the two periods of energy injection can be produced by clumpy materials falling onto the central compact object of the burster, which leads to an enhancement of accretion and gives rise to a strong temporary outflow.

The Synchrotron-self-Compton Radiation Accompanying Shallow Decaying X-Ray Afterglow:the Case of GRB 940217

High energy emission （〉 tens MeV） of Gamma-Ray Bursts （GRBs） provides an important clue on the physical processes occurring in GRBs that may be correlated with the GRB early afterglow. A shallow decline phase has been well identified in about half of Swift Gamma-ray Burst x-ray afterglows. The widely considered interpretation inv.olves a significant energy injection and possibly time-evolving shock parameter（s）. We calculate the synchrotron-self-Compton （SSC） radiation of such an external forward shock and show that it could explain the well-known long term high energy （i.e., tens MeV to GeV） afterglow of GRB 940217. We propose that cooperation of Swift and GLAST will help to reveal the nature of GRBs.