MONTE CARLO RADIATION TRANSFER SIMULATIONS OF PHOTOSPHERIC EMISSION IN LONG-DURATION GAMMA-RAY BURSTS
- Department of Physics, Oregon State University, 301 Weniger Hall, Corvallis, OR 97331 (United States)
We present MCRaT, a Monte Carlo Radiation Transfer code for self-consistently computing the light curves and spectra of the photospheric emission from relativistic, unmagnetized jets. We apply MCRaT to a relativistic hydrodynamic simulation of a long-duration gamma-ray burst jet, and present the resulting light curves and time-dependent spectra for observers at various angles from the jet axis. We compare our results to observational results and find that photospheric emission is a viable model to explain the prompt phase of long-duration gamma-ray bursts at the peak frequency and above, but faces challenges when reproducing the flat spectrum below the peak frequency. We finally discuss possible limitations of these results both in terms of the hydrodynamics and the radiation transfer and how these limitations could affect the conclusions that we present.
- OSTI ID:
- 22667393
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 829, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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