A cannonball model of gamma-ray bursts: superluminal signatures

Abstract

Recent observations suggest that the long-duration gamma ray bursts (GRBs) and their afterglows are produced by highly relativistic jets emitted in supernova explosions. We propose that the result of the event is not just a compact object plus the ejecta: within a day, a fraction of the parent star falls back to produce a thick accretion disk. The subsequent accretion generates jets and constitutes the GRB ``engine'', as in the observed ejection of relativistic ``cannonballs'' of plasma by microquasars and active galactic nuclei. The GRB is produced as the jetted cannonballs exit the supernova shell reheated by the collision, re-emitting their own radiation and boosting the light of the shell. They decelerate by sweeping up interstellar matter, which is accelerated to cosmic-ray energies and emits synchrotron radiation: the afterglow. We emphasize here a smoking-gun signature of this model of GRBs: the superluminal motion of the afterglow, that can be searched for ---the sooner the better--- in the particular case of GRB 980425.

9 pages, 5 figs, latex2e

Cited by in corpus (7)

• GRB 091127: The cooling break race on magnetic fuel
• Short Hard Gamma Ray Bursts And Their Afterglows
• The cepheid-like relationship between variability and luminosity explained within the ``cannonball model'' of Gamma-Ray bursts
• Conical Fireballs, Cannonballs, And Jet-Breaks In The Afterglows Of Gamma Ray Bursts
• On re-brightening afterglows of XRFs, Soft GRBs and GRB081028
• On The Evolution Of The Spectral Break In The Afterglow Of Gamma Ray Bursts
• Cannonball model diagnosis of the short gamma ray burst 170817A