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Title: The Synchrotron Low-energy Spectrum Arising from the Cooling of Electrons in Gamma-Ray Bursts

Abstract

This work is a continuation of a previous effort (Panaitescu) to study the cooling of relativistic electrons through radiation (synchrotron and self-Compton) emission and adiabatic losses, with application to the spectra and light curves of the synchrotron gamma-ray burst (GRB) produced by such cooling electrons. Here, we derive the low-energy slope βLE of a GRB pulse-integrated spectrum and quantify the implications of the measured distribution of βLE. Radiative processes that produce soft integrated spectra can accommodate the harder slopes measured by CGRO/BATSE and Fermi/GBM only if the magnetic field lifetime tB is shorter than the time during which the typical GRB electrons cool to radiate below 1–10 keV, which is less than (at most) 10 radiative cooling timescales trad of the typical GRB electron. In this case, there is a one-to-one correspondence between tB and βLE. To account for low-energy slopes βLE > -3/4, the adiabatic electron-cooling requires a similar restriction on tB. In this case, the diversity of slopes arises mostly from how the electron-injection rate varies with time (temporal power-law injection rates yield power-law low-energy GRB spectra) and not from the magnetic field timescale.

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1]
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  1. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program
OSTI Identifier:
1897440
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-22-25196
Journal ID: ISSN 0004-637X; TRN: US2310790
Grant/Contract Number:  
89233218CNA000001
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
The Astrophysical Journal
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 938; Journal Issue: 2; Journal ID: ISSN 0004-637X
Publisher:
IOP Publishing
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS; gamma-ray bursts; non-thermal radiation sources; radiative processes; plasma astrophysics

Citation Formats

Panaitescu, Alin-Daniel, and Vestrand, W. Thomas. The Synchrotron Low-energy Spectrum Arising from the Cooling of Electrons in Gamma-Ray Bursts. United States: N. p., 2022. Web. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ac8b75.
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Panaitescu, Alin-Daniel, & Vestrand, W. Thomas. The Synchrotron Low-energy Spectrum Arising from the Cooling of Electrons in Gamma-Ray Bursts. United States. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ac8b75
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Panaitescu, Alin-Daniel, and Vestrand, W. Thomas. Thu . "The Synchrotron Low-energy Spectrum Arising from the Cooling of Electrons in Gamma-Ray Bursts". United States. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ac8b75. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1897440.
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@article{osti_1897440,
title = {The Synchrotron Low-energy Spectrum Arising from the Cooling of Electrons in Gamma-Ray Bursts},
author = {Panaitescu, Alin-Daniel and Vestrand, W. Thomas},
abstractNote = {This work is a continuation of a previous effort (Panaitescu) to study the cooling of relativistic electrons through radiation (synchrotron and self-Compton) emission and adiabatic losses, with application to the spectra and light curves of the synchrotron gamma-ray burst (GRB) produced by such cooling electrons. Here, we derive the low-energy slope βLE of a GRB pulse-integrated spectrum and quantify the implications of the measured distribution of βLE. Radiative processes that produce soft integrated spectra can accommodate the harder slopes measured by CGRO/BATSE and Fermi/GBM only if the magnetic field lifetime tB is shorter than the time during which the typical GRB electrons cool to radiate below 1–10 keV, which is less than (at most) 10 radiative cooling timescales trad of the typical GRB electron. In this case, there is a one-to-one correspondence between tB and βLE. To account for low-energy slopes βLE > -3/4, the adiabatic electron-cooling requires a similar restriction on tB. In this case, the diversity of slopes arises mostly from how the electron-injection rate varies with time (temporal power-law injection rates yield power-law low-energy GRB spectra) and not from the magnetic field timescale.},
doi = {10.3847/1538-4357/ac8b75},
journal = {The Astrophysical Journal},
number = 2,
volume = 938,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Oct 20 00:00:00 EDT 2022},
month = {Thu Oct 20 00:00:00 EDT 2022}
}
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https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ac8b75
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