Ultrahigh-energy cosmic-ray signature in GRB 221009A

Abstract

The brightest long gamma-ray burst detected so far by the Swift-BAT and Fermi-GBM telescopes, GRB~221009A, provides an unprecedented opportunity for understanding the high-energy processes in extreme transient phenomena. We find that the conventional leptonic models, synchrotron and synchrotron-self-Compton, for the afterglow emission from this source have difficulties explaining the observation of $\gtrsim 10$ TeV $\gamma$ rays, by the LHAASO detector, and extending up to 18 TeV energies. We model $\gamma$-ray spectrum estimated in the energy range 0.1-1 GeV by the Fermi-LAT detector. The flux predicted by our leptonic models is severely attenuated at $>1$ TeV due to $\gamma \gamma$ pair production with extragalactic background light, and hence an additional component is required at $\gtrsim 10$ TeV. Ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays can be accelerated in the GRB blastwave, and their propagation induces an electromagnetic cascade in the extragalactic medium. The line of sight component of this flux can explain the emission at $\gtrsim 10$ TeV detected by LHAASO, requiring a fraction of the GRB blastwave energy in ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays. This could be an indication of ultrahigh-energy cosmic-ray acceleration in GRBs.

4 pages, 2 figures, Accepted for publication in A&A Letters

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Cited by in corpus (17)

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• Observability of the very-high-energy emission from GRB 221009A
• External Inverse-Compton and Proton Synchrotron Emission from the Reverse Shock as the Origin of VHE Gamma-Rays from the Hyper-Bright GRB 221009A
• Invisible Neutrino Decays as Origin of TeV Gamma Rays from GRB221009A
• GRB 221009A Gamma Rays from Radiative Decay of Heavy Neutrinos?
• Revisiting Lorentz invariance violation from GRB 221009A
• The origin of very-high-energy gamma-rays from GRB 221009A: implications for reverse shock proton synchrotron emission
• Carpet-3 detection of a photon-like air shower with estimated primary energy above 100 TeV in a spatial and temporal coincidence with GRB 221009A
• Can Sterile Neutrino Explain Very High Energy Photons from GRB221009A?
• Swift/UVOT: 18 Years of Long GRB Discoveries and Advances
• A Novel Model for the MeV Emission Line in GRB 221009A
• GRB 221009A: Spectral signatures based on ALPs candidates
• Very high-energy gamma rays from GRB 180720B and GRB 190829A with external Compton emission
• Modelling multiwavelength afterglows of the VHE-GRB population
• The possibility of multi-TeV secondary gamma rays from GRB221009A
• New Insights on Gamma-Ray Burst Radiation Mechanisms from Multiwavelength Observations
• Modeling the imprints of large-scale magnetized structures on $\gamma$-rays from extragalactic transients