Radiative Mechanisms in GRB prompt emission

Abstract

Motivated by the Fermi gamma-ray space telescope results, in recent years immense efforts were given to understanding the mechanism that leads to the prompt emission observed. The failure of the optically thin emission models (synchrotron and synchrotron self Compton) increased interest in alternative models. Optically thick models, while having several advantages, also face difficulty in capturing several key observables. Theoretical efforts are focused in two main directions: (1) mechanisms that act to broaden the Planck spectrum; and (2) combining the optically thin and optically thick models to a hybrid model that could explain the key observables.

9 pages, 2 figures, 1 table; Invited review, to appear in the proceedings of the Gamma-Ray Burst Symposium 2012- IAA-CSIC - Marbella, editors: Castro-Tirado, A. J., Gorosabel, J. and Park, I. H

References in corpus (13)

• Particle acceleration in relativistic collisionless shocks: Fermi process at last?
• Detection of a Thermal Spectral Component in the Prompt Emission of GRB 100724B
• A Comprehensive Analysis of Fermi Gamma-Ray Burst Data. I. Spectral Components and Their Possible Physical Origins of LAT/GBM GRBs
• Prompt GRB emission from gradual energy dissipation
• GRB110721A: An extreme peak energy and signatures of the photosphere
• Temporal Evolution Of Thermal Emission From Relativistically Expanding Plasma
• Quasi-blackbody component and radiative efficiency of the prompt emission of gamma-ray bursts
• A new method of determining the initial size and Lorentz factor of gamma-ray burst fireballs using a thermal emission component
• Very high efficiency photospheric emission in long duration gamma-ray bursts
• A theory of photospheric emission from relativistic, collimated outflows
• Prompt emission spectra from the photosphere of a GRB
• Thermal Radiation from GRB Jets
• A search for thermal X-ray signatures in Gamma-Ray Bursts I: Swift bursts with optical supernovae