The Synchrotron Shock Model Confronts a `Line of Death' in the BATSE Gamma-Ray Burst Data

Abstract

The synchrotron shock model (SSM) for gamma-ray burst emission makes a testable prediction: that the observed low-energy power-law photon number spectral index cannot exceed -2/3 (where the photon model is defined with a positive index: dN/dE is proportional to E^alpha). We have collected time-resolved spectral fit parameters for over 100 bright bursts observed by the Burst And Transient Source Experiment on board the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory. Using this database, we find 23 bursts in which the spectral index limit of the SSM is violated. We discuss elements of the analysis methodology that affect the robustness of this result, as well as some of the escape hatches left for the SSM by theory.

8 pages plus 3 figures. Accepted by ApJ (Letters)

References in corpus (4)

• Gamma-ray burst after-glow: Confirming the cosmological fireball model
• Possible Evidence for Relativistic Shocks in Gamma-Ray Bursts
• BATSE Observations of Gamma-Ray Burst Spectra. IV. Time-Resolved High-Energy Spectroscopy
• X-ray Spectral Characteristics of Ginga Gamma-Ray Bursts

Cited by in corpus (259)

• The Physics of Gamma-Ray Bursts
• Gamma-Ray Bursts: Progress, Problems & Prospects
• The BATSE Gamma-Ray Burst Spectral Catalog. I. High Time Resolution Spectroscopy of Bright Bursts using High Energy Resolution Data
• The Complete Spectral Catalog of Bright BATSE Gamma-Ray Bursts
• The Fermi GBM Gamma-Ray Burst Spectral Catalog: Four Years Of Data
• Fermi Observations of GRB 090510: A Short Hard Gamma-Ray Burst with an Additional, Hard Power-Law Component from 10 keV to GeV Energies
• The Third Swift Burst Alert Telescope Gamma-Ray Burst Catalog
• The observable effects of a photospheric component on GRB's and XRF's prompt emission spectrum
• Identification and properties of the photospheric emission in GRB090902B
• Detection of a Thermal Spectral Component in the Prompt Emission of GRB 100724B
• The Second Swift BAT Gamma-Ray Burst Catalog
• A long-duration gamma-ray burst with a peculiar origin
• Theory of "Jitter" Radiation from Small-Scale Random Magnetic Fields and Prompt Emission from Gamma-Ray Burst Shocks
• The Cooling Behavior of Thermal Pulses in Gamma-Ray Bursts
• Klein-Nishina Effects on Optically Thin Synchrotron and Synchrotron Self-Compton Spectrum
• Relativistic Shocks: Particle Acceleration and Magnetization
• Prompt GRB emission from gradual energy dissipation
• Reconciling observed GRB prompt spectra with synchrotron radiation ?
• Gamma-ray Bursts - A Puzzle Being Resolved
• GRB110721A: An extreme peak energy and signatures of the photosphere
• Quasi-blackbody component and radiative efficiency of the prompt emission of gamma-ray bursts
• Prompt and delayed emission properties of Gamma-Ray Bursts observed with BeppoSAX
• Constraints on the emission mechanisms of gamma-ray bursts
• Very high efficiency photospheric emission in long duration gamma-ray bursts
• A theory of photospheric emission from relativistic, collimated outflows
• Spectral properties of 438 GRBs detected by Fermi/GBM
• Synchrotron Radiation as the Source of Gamma-Ray Burst Spectra
• Beaming, Baryon-Loading, and the Synchrotron Self-Compton Component in Gamma-Ray Burst Blast Waves Energized by External Shocks
• Evidence for a Photospheric Component in the Prompt Emission of the Short GRB120323A and its Effects on the GRB Hardness-Luminosity Relation
• Extremely hard GRB spectra prune down the forest of emission models
• Prompt emission spectra from the photosphere of a GRB
• Spectral and timing properties of a dissipative GRB photosphere
• Fermi-GBM Discovery of GRB 221009A: An Extraordinarily Bright GRB from Onset to Afterglow
• Open Questions in GRB Physics
• Physics of Gamma-Ray Bursts Prompt Emission
• Spectral analysis of 35 GRBs/XRFs observed with HETE-2/FREGATE
• The Fermi GBM Gamma-Ray Burst Spectral Catalog: 10 Years of Data
• The Konus-Wind catalog of gamma-ray bursts with known redshifts. I. Bursts detected in the triggered mode
• A Theory of Mulicolor Black Body Emission from Relativistically Expanding Plasmas
• Efficiency and spectrum of internal gamma-ray burst shocks
• Synthetic Spectra from PIC Simulations of Relativistic Collisionless Shocks
• The Connection Between Thermal and Non-Thermal Emission in Gamma-ray Bursts: General Considerations and GRB090902B as a Case Study
• Observational evidence of dissipative photospheres in gamma-ray bursts
• Non-Thermal emission from the photospheres of Gamma-Ray Burst outflows. I: High frequency tails
• Gamma-ray bursts as cool synchrotron sources
• Synchrotron Origin of the Typical GRB Band Function - A Case Study of GRB 130606B
• UHECR acceleration at GRB internal shocks
• The case for a minute-long merger-driven gamma-ray burst from fast-cooling synchrotron emission
• Peak energy clustering and efficiency in compact objects
• Time-resolved Analysis of Fermi GRBs with Fast and Slow-Cooled Synchrotron Photon Models
• Gamma-Ray Bursts from Up-Scattered Self-Absorbed Synchrotron Emission
• The Synchrotron Spectrum of Fast Cooling Electrons Revisited
• Synchrotron emission in small scale magnetic field as possible explanation for prompt emission spectra of gamma-ray bursts
• Towards a Better Understanding of the GRB Phenomenon: a New Model for GRB Prompt Emission and its effects on the New Non-Thermal L${}_{\mathrm{i}}^{\mathrm{NT}}$-E${}_{\mathrm{peak},\mathrm{i}}^{\mathrm{rest},\mathrm{NT}}$ relation
• Detection of Low-energy Breaks in Gamma-Ray Burst Prompt Emission Spectra
• Consistency with synchrotron emission in the bright GRB 160625B observed by Fermi
• Evidence of two spectral breaks in the prompt emission of gamma ray bursts
• Constraints on the Synchrotron Emission Mechanism in GRBs
• Gamma Ray Bursts in the Swift-Fermi Era
• The theory of spectral evolution of the GRB prompt emission
• Prompt optical emission as a signature of synchrotron radiation in gamma-ray bursts
• On thermalization in gamma-ray burst jets and the peak energies of photospheric spectra
• Testing the Epeak - Eiso relation for GRBs detected by Swift and Suzaku-WAM
• Time dependent numerical model for the emission of radiation from relativistic plasma
• Are GRB 980425 and GRB 031203 real outliers or twins of GRB 060218?
• Rapid Spectral Variability of a Giant Flare from a Magnetar in NGC 253
• Observational Limits on Inverse Compton Processes in GRBs
• The width of gamma-ray burst spectra
• Physics of radiation mediated shocks and its applications to GRBs, supernovae, and neutron star mergers
• A Study of Prompt Emission Mechanisms in Gamma-Ray Bursts
• Polarization properties of photospheric emission from relativistic, collimated outflows
• Radiative Signatures of Relativistic Shocks
• Properties of GRB Lightcurves from Magnetic Reconnection
• Prompt Gamma Ray Burst emission from gradual magnetic dissipation
• Characterization of Gamma-Ray Burst prompt emission spectra down to soft X-rays
• Interpreting the Behavior of Time Resolved Gamma-Ray Burst Spectra
• Electron-ion coupling upstream of relativistic collisionless shocks
• Prospects for GRB Science with the Fermi Large Area Telescope
• The second Konus-Wind catalog of short gamma-ray bursts
• The Connection Between Spectral Evolution and GRB Lag
• Constraints on millisecond magnetars as the engines of prompt emission in gamma-ray bursts
• The emission mechanism in magnetically dominated GRB outflows
• Photospheric Emission from Collapsar Jets in 3D Relativistic Hydrodynamics
• Multi-wavelength observations of the energetic GRB 080810: detailed mapping of the broadband spectral evolution
• MultiPulse {\it Fermi} Gamma-Ray Bursts. I. Evidence of the Transition from Fireball to Poynting-flux-dominated Outflow
• Gamma-ray bursts afterglow physics and the VHE domain
• Photospheric emission from stratified jets
• Temporal Evolution of Pair Attenuation Signatures in Gamma-Ray Burst Spectra
• Prompt thermal emission in gamma-ray bursts
• Gamma-Ray Burst Spectral Correlations: Photospheric and Injection Effects
• Marginally fast cooling synchrotron models for prompt GRBs
• Confronting GRB prompt emission with a model for subphotospheric dissipation
• Proton-synchrotron as the radiation mechanism of the prompt emission of GRBs?
• Bayesian Time-Resolved Spectroscopy of GRB Pulses
• Evidence for jet launching close to the black hole in GRB 101219B - a Fermi GRB dominated by thermal emission
• Synchrotron emission in the fast cooling regime: which spectra can be explained?
• The sharpness of gamma-ray burst prompt emission spectra
• A Plasma Instability Theory of Gamma-Ray Burst Emission
• Gamma-Ray Bursts at high and very high energies
• The $E_{\mathrm{p}}$-Flux Correlation in the Rising and Decaying Phases of Gamma-Ray Burst Pulses: Evidence for Viewing Angle Effect?
• On Spectral Evolution and Temporal Binning in Gamma-Ray Bursts
• Constraints on the Synchrotron Shock Model for the Fermi GBM Gamma-Ray Burst 090820A
• The time-resolved spectra of photospheric emission from a structured jet for gamma-ray bursts
• Multi-color blackbody emission in GRB 081221
• Spectral and Polarization Properties of Photospheric Emission From Stratified Jets
• A faint optical flash in dust-obscured GRB 080603A - implications for GRB prompt emission mechanisms
• Radiation from sub-Larmor scale magnetic fields
• Computation of synthetic spectra from simulations of relativistic shocks
• Gamma-Ray Bursts as Sources of Strong Magnetic Fields
• Clustering of gamma-ray burst types in the Fermi-GBM catalogue: indications of photosphere and synchrotron emissions during the prompt phase
• Multi-messenger light curves from gamma-ray bursts in the internal shock model
• Rest-frame properties of 32 gamma-ray bursts observed by the Fermi Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor
• Thermal Components in Gamma-ray Bursts. I. How Do They Affect Non-Thermal Spectral Parameters?
• Sub-Photospheric Emission from Relativistic Radiation Mediated Shocks in GRBs
• The Fraction of Gamma-ray Bursts with an Observed Photospheric Emission Episode
• Gamma-ray burst spectra and spectral correlations from sub-photospheric Comptonization
• Hydrodynamic properties of gamma-ray bursts outflows deduced from thermal component
• Photospheric Emission in Gamma-Ray Bursts
• Compton dragged gamma-ray bursts: the spectrum
• "Double-tracking" Characteristic of the Spectral Evolution of GRB 131231A: Synchrotron Origin?
• Broad band time-resolved E_{p,i}--L_{iso} correlation in GRBs
• The multiwavelength counterparts of fast radio bursts
• Triggering the Untriggered: The First Einstein Probe-Detected Gamma-Ray Burst 240219A and Its Implications
• Particle acceleration, magnetization and radiation in relativistic shocks
• Cooling of Accelerated Nucleons and Neutrino Emission in Gamma-Ray Bursts
• GRB 210121A: A Typical Fireball Burst Detected by Two Small Missions
• Synchrotron emission in GRBs observed by Fermi: Its limitations and the role of the photosphere
• Spectral Cross-calibration of the Konus-Wind, the Suzaku/WAM, and the Swift/BAT Data using Gamma-Ray Bursts
• Synchrotron Cooling in Energetic Gamma-Ray Bursts Observed by the Fermi Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor
• Radiative cooling in relativistic collisionless shocks. Can simulations and experiments probe relevant GRB physics?
• Fermi observations of high-energy gamma-ray emission from GRB 090217A
• Synchrotron radiation in $\gamma$-ray burst prompt emission
• The rise and fall of the high-energy afterglow emission of GRB 180720B
• Flash-Heating of Circumstellar Clouds by Gamma Ray Bursts
• Pre-merger alert to detect the very-high-energy prompt emission from binary neutron-star mergers: Einstein Telescope and Cherenkov Telescope Array synergy
• Non-dissipative photospheres in GRBs: Spectral appearance in the Fermi/GBM catalogue
• Emission from accelerating jets in gamma-ray bursts: Radiation dominated flows with increasing mass outflow rates
• Gamma-ray Burst Prompt Emission: Jitter Radiation in Stochastic Magnetic Field Revisited
• Is Spectral Width a Reliable Measure of GRB Emission Physics?
• Classification of Photospheric Emission in Short GRBs
• Temporal Evolution of Prompt GRB Polarization
• Hadronic origin of prompt high-energy emission of gamma-ray bursts revisited: in the case of a limited maximum proton energy
• Spectral catalogue of bright gamma-ray bursts detected with the BeppoSAX/GRBM
• On the $\alpha$-Intensity Correlation in Gamma-Ray Bursts: Subphotospheric Heating with Varying Entropy
• GRB990123: The Case for Saturated Comptonization
• Signatures of photon and axion-like particle mixing in the gamma-ray burst jet
• Ultra-high Energy Cosmic Rays and Neutrinos from Gamma-Ray Bursts, Hypernovae and Galactic Shocks
• CGRO/BATSE Data Support the New Paradigm for GRB Prompt Emission and the New L${}_i^{nTh}$-E${}_{peak,i}^{nTh,rest}$ relation
• Violation of synchrotron line of death by the highly polarized $GRB160802A$
• High-Energy Non-Thermal and Thermal Emission from GRB141207A detected by Fermi
• Photon Emission in a Cascade from Relativistic Protons Initiated by Residual Thermal Photons in Gamma-Ray Bursts
• Synchrotron-Self-Compton radiation from magnetically-dominated turbulent plasmas in relativistic jets
• The First Insight-HXMT Gamma-Ray Burst Catalog: The First Four Years
• On the synchrotron spectrum of GRB prompt emission
• A blast from the infant Universe: the very high-z GRB 210905A
• The curious case of EP241021a: Unraveling the mystery of its exceptional rebrightening
• On the Correlation of Low-energy Spectral Indices and Redshifts of Gamma-ray Bursts
• Gamma Ray Burst studies with THESEUS
• Electromagnetic Counterparts of Compact Binary Mergers
• The origin of the optical flashes: The case study of GRB 080319B and GRB 130427A
• The slope of the low energy spectrum of Gamma-Ray Burst prompt emission
• Physics of non-dissipative ultrarelativistic photospheres
• A New Approach to Statistics of Cosmological Gamma-Ray Bursts
• Pulse-wise Amati correlation in Fermi GRBs
• The Limited Contribution of Low- and High-Luminosity Gamma-Ray Bursts to Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays
• Prospects for multi-messenger extended emission from core-collapse supernovae in the Local Universe
• Sub-photospheric, radiation mediated shocks in GRBs: Multiple shock emission and the Band spectrum
• Synchrotron radiation from electrons with a pitch-angle distribution
• Science prospects for SPHiNX - a small satellite GRB polarimetry mission
• A unified picture for the gamma-ray and prompt optical emissions of GRB 990123
• GRB Spectrum from Gradual Dissipation in a Magnetized Outflow
• Testing a model for subphotospheric dissipation in GRBs: fits to Fermi data constrain the dissipation scenario
• Nonthermal Synchrotron Radiation from Gamma Ray Burst External Shocks and the X-ray Flares Observed with Swift
• Modeling Spectral Variability of Prompt GRB Emission within the Jitter Radiation Paradigm
• Spectro-polarimetric analysis of prompt emission of GRB 160325A: jet with evolving environment of internal shocks
• Baryonic pollution in gamma-ray bursts: the case of a magnetically driven wind emitted from a disk orbiting a stellar mass black hole
• Relativistic Shear Flow Between Electron-Ion and Electron-Positron Plasmas and Astrophysical Applications
• Jitter radiation in gamma-ray bursts and their afterglows: emission and self-absorption
• Spectral components in the bright, long GRB 061007: properties of the photosphere and the nature of the outflow
• Magnetically and Baryonically Dominated Photospheric Gamma-Ray Burst Model Fits to Fermi LAT Observations
• Time-Reversed Gamma-Ray Burst Light Curve Characteristics as Transitions between Subluminal and Superluminal Motion
• Time-resolved Spectral Study Of Fermi GRBs Having Single Pulses
• Time-evolution of Peak Energy and Luminosity Relation within Pulses for GRB 061007: Probing Fireball Dynamics
• Evolution Patterns of the Peak Energy in the GRB Prompt Emission
• The $E_{\mathrm{p}}$ - $E_{\mathrm{iso}}$ relation and the internal shock model
• A backscattering dominated prompt emission model for the prompt phase of Gamma ray bursts
• Hadronic supercriticality as a trigger for GRB emission
• Are GRB Blackbodies an Artifact of Spectral Evolution?
• Comptonization signatures in the prompt emission of Gamma Ray Bursts
• Multi-wavelength study of the luminous GRB 210619B observed with Fermi and ASIM
• GRB 220426A: A Thermal Radiation-Dominated Gamma-Ray Burst
• Statistical analysis of BATSE gamma-ray bursts: Self-similarity and the Amati-relation
• Investigating subphotospheric dissipation in gamma-ray bursts using joint Fermi-Swift observations
• Discovery of Smoothly Evolving Blackbodies in the Early Afterglow of GRB 090618 : Evidence for a Spine-Sheath Jet?
• A new method of pulse-wise spectral analysis of Gamma-ray Bursts
• GRB030406 an extremely hard burst outside of the INTEGRAL field of view
• One Fits All: A Unified Synchrotron Model Explains GRBs with FRED-Shaped Pulses
• A new fitting function for GRB MeV spectra based on the internal shock synchrotron model
• Origin for the Prompt Spectral Evolution Characteristics and High Energy Emission during the X-Ray Flare in GRB 180720B
• A Cosmological Fireball with Sixteen-Percent Gamma-Ray Radiative Efficiency
• Study of prompt emission of short gamma ray bursts using multi-color blackbody: a clue to the viewing angle
• A numerical jet model for the prompt emission of gamma-ray bursts
• Scaling of Relativistic Shear Flows with Bulk Lorentz Factor
• Bethe-Heitler signature in proton synchrotron models for gamma-ray bursts
• Radiation from relativistic shocks with turbulent magnetic fields
• A detailed time-resolved and energy-resolved spectro-polarimetric study of bright GRBs detected by AstroSat CZTI in its first year of operation
• Multiple Components in the Broadband $\gamma$-ray Emission of the Short GRB 160709A
• Gamma-ray Burst Spectrum with a Time-dependent Injection Rate of High-energy Electrons
• Surprise in simplicity: an unusual spectral evolution of a single pulse GRB 151006A
• Overall Spectral Properties of Prompt Emissions with Diverse Segments in Swift/BAT Short Gamma-ray Bursts
• The Origin of the Photospheric Emission of GRB 220426A
• Standard GRB Spectral Models "Misused"?
• Angular Dependence of Jitter Radiation Spectra from Small-Scale Magnetic Turbulence
• Simulation of Relativistic Jets and Associated Self-consistent Radiation
• Gamma-Ray Burst Prompt Emission: Implications from Shock Acceleration Theory
• RHESSI Tests of Quasi-Thermal Gamma-Ray Burst Spectral Models
• Gamma-Ray Burst prompt emission from the synchrotron radiation of relativistic electrons in a rapidly decaying magnetic field
• Exploring Gamma-Ray Burst Diversity: Clustering analysis of emission characteristics of Fermi and BATSE detected GRBs
• A Comptonized Fireball Bubble Fits the Second Extragalactic Magnetar Giant Flare GRB 231115A
• Spectral and Jet Properties of the Quasi-thermal Dominated GRB 210121A, GRB 210610B and GRB 221022B
• Where are Swift Gamma-ray bursts beyond the "synchrotron deathline"?
• Broad band simulation of Gamma Ray Bursts (GRB) prompt emission in presence of an external magnetic field
• Three-stage Collapse of the Long Gamma-Ray Burst from GRB 160625B Prompt Multiwavelength Observations
• Broadening of the thermal component of the prompt GRB emission due to rapid temperature evolution
• A Spectral Analysis of Fermi-LLE GRBs
• Radiation from collision-dominated relativistic pair fireballs
• GRB 221009A with an unconventional precursor: a typical two-stage collapsar scenario?
• Observational Constraints on the Angular and Spectral Distributions of Photons in Gamma-Ray Burst Sources
• The Hardness-intensity Correlation of Photospheric Emission from a Structured Jet for Gamma-Ray Bursts
• Detection of the thermal component in GRB 160107A
• A Comprehensive Consistency Check between Synchrotron radiation and the Observed Gamma-ray Burst Spectra
• Monte Carlo simulations of Photospheric emission in relativistic outflows
• GRB 201104A: A "Repetitive" Short Gamma-Ray Burst?
• On the 'Loose' Constraint from IceCube Neutrino Non-Detection of GRB 230307A
• Topical Issues for Particle Acceleration Mechanisms in Astrophysical Shocks
• The Spectral Sharpness Angle of Gamma-ray Bursts
• Time-averaging Polarimetric and Spectral Properties of Gamma-Ray Bursts
• Polarization in Gamma-Ray Bursts Produced by Pinch Discharge
• Hadronic supercriticality in spherically expanding sources: application to GRB prompt emission
• Time-Integrated Gamma-Ray Burst Synchrotron Spectra from Blast Wave/Cloud Interactions
• The INTEGRAL view of Gamma-Ray Bursts
• GRB 190114C: Fireball Energy Budget and Radiative Efficiency Revisited
• Explosive and radio-selected Transients: Transient Astronomy with SKA and its Precursors
• Electron Spectrum for the Prompt Emission of Gamma-ray Bursts in the Synchrotron Radiation Scenario
• Spectro-polarimetry of GRB 180427A: evidence for distinct emission sites with varying polarisation
• Improving INTEGRAL/SPI data analysis of GRBs
• Evidence for Rapid Variability at High Energies in GRBs
• Plasmas in Gamma-Ray Bursts: particle acceleration, magnetic fields, radiative Processes and environments
• Adding Gamma-ray Polarimetry to the Multi-Messenger Era
• Modeling of the Gamma Ray Burst photospheric emission: Monte Carlo simulation of the GRB prompt emission, numerical results and discussion
• Gamma ray emission from magnetized relativistic GRB outflows
• The spectral catalogue of INTEGRAL gamma-ray bursts: results of the joint IBIS/SPI spectral analysis
• Radiative Mechanisms in GRB prompt emission
• Spectral Evolution of Two High-Energy Gamma-Ray Bursts
• Is gamma-ray burst polarization from photosphere emission?
• Broad-band Spectral Modeling of Prompt Emission from Gamma-Ray Bursts Observed by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite
• Episode-wise spectro-polarimetry of GRB 220107A: Testing the hypothesis of evolving radiation mechanisms
• Radiation from relativistic jets
• Gamma Ray Bursts: basic facts and ideas