Gamma-ray Bursts

Abstract

Gamma-ray bursts are flashes of high-energy radiation lasting from a fraction of a second to several hours. Military satellites made the first detections of GRBs in the late 1960s. The $\gamma$-ray emission forms from shocks in a relativistic jet launched from a compact central engine. In addition to the emission of $\gamma$-rays, the interaction of the jet with the surrounding medium yields afterglow emission that can be observed across the electromagnetic spectrum. Redshift measurements from these afterglows place GRBs from the local to the distant Universe. The central engines of GRBs are thought to be either a hyperaccreting black hole or a highly magnetized neutron star (magnetar). There is now strong observational evidence that this central engine is created either in the core collapse of a rapidly rotating massive star or via the merger of two compact objects (neutron stars or a neutron star with a black hole). The combination of stellar scale events with extreme energies and luminosities makes GRBs powerful probes of the extreme physics involved in their production and of other areas of astrophysics and cosmology. These include as the electromagnetic counterparts of gravitational wave sources, the production and acceleration of relativistic jets, the synthesis of heavy elements, the study of the interstellar and intergalactic medium, and the identification of the collapse of early generations of stars.

22 pages, 6 figures. Article for the Encyclopedia of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Editor Ilya Mandel, Section Editor Jeff Andrews

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