A JET BREAK IN THE X-RAY LIGHT CURVE OF SHORT GRB 111020A: IMPLICATIONS FOR ENERGETICS AND RATES
- Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 525 Davey Laboratory, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 (United States)
- Department of Astronomy, Oxford University, Oxford OX1 3RH (United Kingdom)
We present broadband observations of the afterglow and environment of the short GRB 111020A. An extensive X-ray light curve from Swift/XRT, XMM-Newton, and Chandra, spanning {approx}100 s to 10 days after the burst, reveals a significant break at {delta}t Almost-Equal-To 2 days with pre- and post-break decline rates of {alpha}{sub X,1} Almost-Equal-To -0.78 and {alpha}{sub X,2} {approx}< -1.7, respectively. Interpreted as a jet break, we infer a collimated outflow with an opening angle of {theta}{sub j} Almost-Equal-To 3 Degree-Sign -8 Degree-Sign . The resulting beaming-corrected {gamma}-ray (10-1000 keV band) and blast-wave kinetic energies are (2-3) Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 48} erg and (0.3-2) Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 49} erg, respectively, with the range depending on the unknown redshift of the burst. We report a radio afterglow limit of <39 {mu}Jy (3{sigma}) from Expanded Very Large Array observations that, along with our finding that {nu}{sub c} < {nu}{sub X}, constrains the circumburst density to n{sub 0} {approx} 0.01-0.1 cm{sup -3}. Optical observations provide an afterglow limit of i {approx}> 24.4 mag at 18 hr after the burst and reveal a potential host galaxy with i Almost-Equal-To 24.3 mag. The subarcsecond localization from Chandra provides a precise offset of 0.''80 {+-} 0.''11 (1{sigma}) from this galaxy corresponding to an offset of 5-7 kpc for z 0.5-1.5. We find a high excess neutral hydrogen column density of (7.5 {+-} 2.0) Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 21} cm{sup -2} (z = 0). Our observations demonstrate that a growing fraction of short gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are collimated, which may lead to a true event rate of {approx}> 100-1000 Gpc{sup -3} yr{sup -1}, in good agreement with the NS-NS merger rate of Almost-Equal-To 200-3000 Gpc{sup -3} yr{sup -1}. This consistency is promising for coincident short GRB-gravitational wave searches in the forthcoming era of Advanced LIGO/VIRGO.
- OSTI ID:
- 22092333
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 756, 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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