Photosphere emission in the X-ray flares of swift gamma-ray bursts and implications for the fireball properties

Peng, Fang-Kun; Liang, En-Wei; Xi, Shao-Qiang; Lu, Rui-Jing; Zhang, Bing; Wang, Xiang-Yu; Hou, Shu-Jin; Zhang, Jin

doi:10.1088/0004-637X/795/2/155

Title: Photosphere emission in the X-ray flares of swift gamma-ray bursts and implications for the fireball properties

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Abstract

X-ray flares of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are usually observed in the soft X-ray range and the spectral coverage is limited. In this paper, we present an analysis of 32 GRB X-ray flares that are simultaneously observed by both Burst Alert Telescope and X-Ray Telescope on board the Swift mission, so that a joint spectral analysis with a wider spectral coverage is possible. Our results show that the joint spectra of 19 flares are fitted with the absorbed single power law or the Band function models. More interestingly, the joint spectra of the other 13 X-ray flares are fitted with the absorbed single power-law model plus a blackbody component. Phenomenally, the observed spectra of these 13 flares are analogous to several GRBs with a thermal component, but only with a much lower temperature of kT = 1 ∼ 3 keV. Assuming that the thermal emission is the photosphere emission of the GRB fireball, we derive the fireball properties of the 13 flares that have redshift measurements, such as the bulk Lorentz factor Γ{sub ph} of the outflow. The derived Γ{sub ph} range from 50 to 150 and a relation of Γ{sub ph} to the thermal emission luminosity is found. It ismore »« less

Authors:

Peng, Fang-Kun; Liang, En-Wei; Xi, Shao-Qiang; Lu, Rui-Jing; Zhang, Bing ^[1]; Wang, Xiang-Yu ^[2]; Hou, Shu-Jin ^[3]; Zhang, Jin ^[4]

Guangxi Key Laboratory for Relativistic Astrophysics, the Department of Physics, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004 (China)
School of Astronomy and Space Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093 (China)
Institute of Physics and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Normal College, Nanyang 473061 (China)
National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100012 (China)

Publication Date:: Mon Nov 10 00:00:00 EST 2014

OSTI Identifier:: 22370029

Resource Type:: Journal Article

Journal Name:: Astrophysical Journal

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Volume: 795; Journal Issue: 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0004-637X

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 79 ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY; COSMIC GAMMA BURSTS; EMISSION; GAMMA RADIATION; LORENTZ INVARIANCE; LUMINOSITY; NUCLEAR FIREBALLS; PHOTOSPHERE; RED SHIFT; SOFT X RADIATION; SPECTRA; STELLAR FLARES; TELESCOPES

Citation Formats


                    Peng, Fang-Kun, Liang, En-Wei, Xi, Shao-Qiang, Lu, Rui-Jing, Zhang, Bing, Wang, Xiang-Yu, Hou, Shu-Jin, and Zhang, Jin. Photosphere emission in the X-ray flares of swift gamma-ray bursts and implications for the fireball properties.  United States: N. p., 2014. 
        Web.  doi:10.1088/0004-637X/795/2/155.

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                    Peng, Fang-Kun, Liang, En-Wei, Xi, Shao-Qiang, Lu, Rui-Jing, Zhang, Bing, Wang, Xiang-Yu, Hou, Shu-Jin, & Zhang, Jin. Photosphere emission in the X-ray flares of swift gamma-ray bursts and implications for the fireball properties.  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/795/2/155

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                    Peng, Fang-Kun, Liang, En-Wei, Xi, Shao-Qiang, Lu, Rui-Jing, Zhang, Bing, Wang, Xiang-Yu, Hou, Shu-Jin, and Zhang, Jin. 2014.  
        "Photosphere emission in the X-ray flares of swift gamma-ray bursts and implications for the fireball properties".  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/795/2/155.

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@article{osti_22370029,

  title        = {Photosphere emission in the X-ray flares of swift gamma-ray bursts and implications for the fireball properties},

  author       = {Peng, Fang-Kun and Liang, En-Wei and Xi, Shao-Qiang and Lu, Rui-Jing and Zhang, Bing and Wang, Xiang-Yu and Hou, Shu-Jin and Zhang, Jin},

  abstractNote = {X-ray flares of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are usually observed in the soft X-ray range and the spectral coverage is limited. In this paper, we present an analysis of 32 GRB X-ray flares that are simultaneously observed by both Burst Alert Telescope and X-Ray Telescope on board the Swift mission, so that a joint spectral analysis with a wider spectral coverage is possible. Our results show that the joint spectra of 19 flares are fitted with the absorbed single power law or the Band function models. More interestingly, the joint spectra of the other 13 X-ray flares are fitted with the absorbed single power-law model plus a blackbody component. Phenomenally, the observed spectra of these 13 flares are analogous to several GRBs with a thermal component, but only with a much lower temperature of kT = 1 ∼ 3 keV. Assuming that the thermal emission is the photosphere emission of the GRB fireball, we derive the fireball properties of the 13 flares that have redshift measurements, such as the bulk Lorentz factor Γ{sub ph} of the outflow. The derived Γ{sub ph} range from 50 to 150 and a relation of Γ{sub ph} to the thermal emission luminosity is found. It is consistent with the Γ{sub 0} – L {sub iso} relations that are derived for the prompt gamma-ray emission. We discuss the physical implications of these results within the content of jet composition and the radiation mechanism of GRBs and X-ray flares.},

  doi          = {10.1088/0004-637X/795/2/155},

  url          = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22370029},
  journal      = {Astrophysical Journal},

  issn         = {0004-637X},

  number       = 2,

  volume       = 795,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {Mon Nov 10 00:00:00 EST 2014},

  month        = {Mon Nov 10 00:00:00 EST 2014}

}

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