A Plasma Instability Theory of Gamma-Ray Burst Emission

Abstract

A new theory for gamma-ray burst radiation is presented. In this theory, magnetic fields and relativistic electrons are created through plasma processes arising as a relativistic shell passes through the interstellar medium. The gamma-rays are produced through synchrotron self-Compton emission. It is found that shocks do not arise in this theory, and that efficient gamma-ray emission only occurs for a high Lorentz factor and a high-density interstellar medium. The former explains the absence of gamma-ray bursts with thermal spectra. The latter provides the Compton attenuation theory with an explanation of why the interstellar medium density is always high. The theory predicts the existence of a class of extragalactic optical transient that emit no gamma-rays.

Presented at the 20 Texas Symposium on Relativistic Astrophysics, December 1998, Paris, France. To appear on the proceedings compact disk

References in corpus (2)

• Non-thermal Radiation of Cosmological gamma-ray Bursters
• Formation and Evolution of E and S0 Galaxies from HST and Keck Studies of z~0.3-1 Clusters

Cited by in corpus (16)

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• Nonrelativistic collisionless shocks in weakly magnetized electron--ion plasmas: two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation of perpendicular shock
• Acceleration Mechanics in Relativistic Shocks by the Weibel Instability
• How large can the electron to proton mass ratio be in Particle-In-Cell simulations of unstable systems?
• Stream instabilities in relativistically hot plasma
• A relativistic partially electromagnetic planar plasma shock
• Simulation study of the formation of a non-relativistic pair shock
• Spatial-temporal evolution of the current filamentation instability
• Off-axis emission from relativistic plasma flows
• Magnetic field amplification and electron acceleration to near-energy equipartition with ions by a mildly relativistic quasi-parallel plasma protoshock
• PIC simulation of a thermal anisotropy-driven Weibel instability in a circular rarefaction wave
• Observation of the growth of a magnetic vortex in the transition layer of a mildly relativistic oblique plasma shock
• PIC simulation study of the interaction between a relativistically moving leptonic micro-cloud and ambient electrons