Temporal Evolution of Prompt GRB Polarization

Abstract

The dominant radiation mechanism that produces the prompt emission in gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) remains a major open question. Spectral information alone has proven insufficient in elucidating its nature. Time-resolved linear polarization has the potential to distinguish between popular emission mechanisms, e.g., synchrotron radiation from electrons with a power-law energy distribution or inverse Compton scattering of soft seed thermal photons, which can yield the typical GRB spectrum but produce different levels of polarization. Furthermore, it can be used to learn about the outflow's composition (i.e. whether it is kinetic-energy-dominated or Poynting-flux-dominated) and angular structure. For synchrotron emission it is a powerful probe of the magnetic field geometry. Here we consider synchrotron emission from a thin ultrarelativistic outflow, with bulk Lorentz factor $\Gamma (R)={\Gamma }_0(R/R_0{)}^{-m/2}\gg 1$, that radiates a Band-function spectrum in a single (multiple) pulse(s) over a range of radii, $R_0\le R\le R_0+\Delta R$. Pulse profiles and polarization evolution at a given energy are presented for a coasting ($m=0$) and accelerating ($m=-2/3$) thin spherical shell and for an off-axis top-hat jet with sharp as well as smooth edges in emissivity. Four different magnetic field configurations are considered, such as a locally ordered field coherent over angular scales ${\theta }_B\gtrsim 1/\Gamma$, a tangled field ($B_{\perp }$) in the plane transverse to the radial direction, an ordered field ($B_{\parallel }$) aligned in the radial direction, and a globally ordered toroidal field ($B_{\mathrm{tor}}$). All field configurations produce distinct polarization evolution with single (for $B_{\perp }$ and $B_{\parallel }$) and double (for $B_{\mathrm{tor}}$) $90^{\circ }$ changes in the polarization position angle.

arXiv comment20 pages, 11 figures; added two more panels to Fig. 6 and main points of paper to the summary section; Accepted to MNRAS

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