Modeling Spectral Variability of Prompt GRB Emission within the Jitter Radiation Paradigm

Abstract

The origin of rapid spectral variability and certain spectral correlations of the prompt gamma-ray burst emission remains an intriguing question. The recently proposed theoretical model of the prompt emission is build upon unique spectral properties of jitter radiation -- the radiation from small-scale magnetic fields generated at a site of strong energy release (e.g., a relativistic collisionless shock in baryonic or pair-dominated ejecta, or a reconnection site in a magnetically-dominated outflow). Here we present the results of implementation of the model. We show that anisotropy of the jitter radiation pattern and relativistic shell kinematics altogether produce effects commonly observed in time-resolved spectra of the prompt emission, e.g., the softening of the spectrum below the peak energy within individual pulses in the prompt light-curve, the so-called "tracking" behavior (correlation of the observed flux with other spectral parameters), the emergence of hard, synchrotron-violating spectra at the beginning of individual spikes. Several observational predictions of the model are discussed.

ApJL, in press

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Cited by in corpus (5)

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• Gamma-ray burst spectra and spectral correlations from sub-photospheric Comptonization
• Gamma-ray Burst Prompt Emission: Jitter Radiation in Stochastic Magnetic Field Revisited
• Jitter radiation: towards TeV-photons of gamma-ray bursts
• GRB variabilities and following gravitational waves induced by gravitational instability in NDAFs