AN ANALYSIS OF CHANDRA DEEP FOLLOW-UP GAMMA-RAY BURSTS: IMPLICATIONS FOR OFF-AXIS JETS

Journal Article · Wed Jun 10 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/806/1/15· OSTI ID:22522346

Zhang, Bin-Bin; Burrows, David N. ^[1]; Eerten, Hendrik van ^[2]; Ryan, Geoffrey Scott; MacFadyen, Andrew ^[3]; Evans, Philip A. ^[4]; Racusin, Judith L.; Troja, Eleonora ^[5]

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1. Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 (United States)
2. Alexander von Humboldt Fellow, Max-Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE), Postfach 1312, D-85741 Garching (Germany)
3. Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics, Physics Department, New York University, New York, NY 10003 (United States)
4. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH (United Kingdom)
5. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)

We present a sample of 27 gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) with detailed Swift light curves supplemented by late-time Chandra observations. To answer the missing jet-break problem in general, we develop a numerical-simulation-based model that can be directly fit to the data using Monte Carlo methods. Our numerical model takes into account all the factors that can shape a jet break: (i) lateral expansion, (ii) edge effects, and (iii) off-axis effects. Our results provide improved fits to the light curves and constraints on physical parameters. More importantly, our results suggest that off-axis effects are important and must be included in interpretations of GRB jet breaks.

• OSTI ID: 22522346
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 806, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
COSMIC GAMMA BURSTS
DIAGRAMS
EXPANSION
JETS
LIMITING VALUES
MONTE CARLO METHOD
SHAPE
VISIBLE RADIATION