Polarization of GRB via scattering off a relativistic sheath

Abstract

GRB fireballs could be ensheathed by a relativistic, baryon-enriched outflow that would in selected directions scatter a polarized beam of gamma rays. The strong polarization recently announced by RHESSI is attainable by the scattering mechanism, though not most of the time. The scattering mechanism, when acting in addition to the synchrotron mechanism, could circumvent some of the predictions implied by a purely synchrotron origin for the polarization. The time profile of the scattered component could differ from that of the primary gamma rays.

11 pages, 3 figures, improved discussion, to appear in ApJL

References in corpus (2)

• Polarization of the prompt gamma-ray emission from the gamma-ray burst of 6 December 2002
• Baryon Loading of Gamma Ray Bursts by Pick-up Neutrons

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• Spectral and Polarization Properties of Photospheric Emission From Stratified Jets
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