Time dependent photoionization opacities in dense Gamma-Ray Burst environments

Abstract

The recent detection of a transient absorption feature in the X-ray prompt emission of GRB 990705 showed the importance of such observations in the understanding of gamma-ray bursts and their progenitors. We investigate the time dependence of photoionization edges during the prompt emission of bursts in different environments. We show that their variability can be used to infer the density and geometry of the surrounding medium, giving important clues to unveil the nature of the burst progenitor.

5 pages, 4 postscript figures, MNRAS in press

References in corpus (1)

• Discovery of a Transient Absorption Edge in the X-ray Spectrum of GRB 990705

Cited by in corpus (23)

• Theories of Gamma-Ray Bursts
• Bright X-ray Flares in Gamma-Ray Burst Afterglows
• Time-Dependent Photoionization in a Dusty Medium II: Evolution of Dust Distributions and Optical Opacities
• Gamma-Ray Burst in a Molecular Cloud: Destruction of Dust and H2, and Emergent Spectrum
• Short GRBs and Mergers of Compact Objects: Observational Constraints
• Time-Dependent Photoionization in a Dusty Medium I: Code Description and General Results
• The X-ray absorbing column densities of Swift Gamma-ray bursts
• The X-ray absorbing column density of a complete sample of bright Swift Gamma-Ray Bursts
• Behavior of X-Ray Dust Scattering and Implications for X-Ray Afterglows of Gamma-Ray Bursts
• The distribution of equivalent widths in long GRB afterglow spectra
• Determining the location of Gamma-Ray Bursts through the evolution of their soft X-ray absorption
• Variable Ly alpha sheds light on the environment surrounding GRB 090426
• Broadband Modeling of GRB 021004
• Soft X-ray emission lines in the early afterglow of gamma-ray bursts
• A decreasing column density during the prompt emission from GRB000528 observed with BeppoSAX
• Iron K Lines from Gamma Ray Bursts
• Time-Dependent Photoionization in a Dusty Medium. III: The effect of dust on the photoionization of metals
• The variable absorption in the X-ray spectrum of GRB 190114C
• The effects of Time-Variable Absorption due to Gamma-Ray Bursts In Active Galactic Nuclei Accretion Disks
• Optical afterglows of gamma-ray bursts: a bimodal distribution?"
• Passage of a Gamma-Ray Burst Through a Molecular Cloud: Cloud Ionization Structure
• Probing the very high redshift Universe with Gamma-ray Bursts: prospects for observations with future X-ray instruments
• X-Ray Lines and Absorption Edges in GRBs and Their Afterglows