We report multi-color optical imaging and polarimetry observations of the afterglow of the first TeVdetected gamma-ray burst, GRB 190114C, using the RINGO3 polarimeter on the 2-m autonomous robotic Liverpool Telescope. Observations begin 201 s after the onset of the GRB and continue until ∼ 7000 s post-burst. High temporal resolution (∆t 2.3 − 4.6 s) and dense sampling of the RINGO3 light curves reveal a chromatic break at t ∼ 400 − 500 s -with initial temporal decay α ∼ 1.5 flattening to α ∼ 1 post-break -which we model as a combination of reverse and forward-shock components, with magnetization parameter R B ∼ 40. The observed polarization degree P ∼ 2 − 4% remains steady throughout the first ∼ 2000-s observation window, with a constant position angle. Broadband spectral energy distribution modeling of the afterglow confirms GRB 190114C is highly obscured (A v,HG = 1.49 ± 0.12 mag; N H,HG = (9.0 ± 0.03) × 10 22 cm −2 ). The measured polarization is therefore dominated by dust scattering and the intrinsic polarization is low -in contrast to P > 10% measured previously for other GRB reverse shocks. We test whether 1st and higher-order inverse Compton scattering in a magnetized reverse shock can explain the low optical polarization and the sub-TeV emission but conclude neither is explained in the reverse shock Inverse Compton model. Instead, the unexpectedly low intrinsic polarization degree in GRB 190114C can be explained if largescale jet magnetic fields are distorted on timescales prior to reverse shock emission.

We present comprehensive multiwavelength radio to X-ray observations of GRB 181201A spanning from ≈ 150 s to ≈ 163 days after the burst, comprising the first joint ALMA-VLA-GMRT observations of a gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglow. The radio and mm-band data reveal a distinct signature at ≈ 3.9 days, which we interpret as reverse shock (RS) emission. Our observations present the first time that a single radio-frequency spectral energy distribution can be decomposed directly into RS and forward shock (FS) components. We perform detailed modeling of the full multiwavelength data set, using Markov Chain Monte Carlo sampling to construct the joint posterior density function of the underlying physical parameters describing the RS and FS synchrotron emission. We uncover and account for all degeneracies in the model parameters. The joint RS-FS modeling reveals a weakly magnetized (σ ≈ 3 × 10 −3 ), mildly relativistic RS, from which we derive an initial bulk Lorentz factor of Γ 0 ≈ 103 for the GRB jet. Our results support the hypothesis that low-density environments are conducive to the observability of RS emission. We compare our observations to other events with strong RS detections, and find a likely observational bias selecting for longer lasting, non-relativistic reverse shocks. We present and begin to address new challenges in modeling posed by the present generation of comprehensive, multi-frequency data sets.

Context. There has been significant technological and scientific progress in our ability to detect, monitor and model the physics of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) over the 50 years since their first discovery. However, the dissipation process thought to be responsible for their defining prompt emission is still unknown. Recent efforts have focused on investigating how the ultrarelativistic jet of the GRB propagates through the progenitor's stellar envelope, for different initial composition shapes, jet structures, magnetisation, and -consequently -possible energy dissipation processes. Study of the temporal variability -in particular the shortest duration of an independent emission episode within a GRB -may provide a unique way to discriminate the imprint of the inner engine activity from geometry and propagation related effects. The advent of new high-energy detectors with exquisite time resolution now makes this possible. Aims. We aim to characterise the minimum variability timescale (MVT) defined as the shortest duration of individual pulses that shape a light curve for a sample of GRBs in the keV-MeV energy range and test correlations with other key observables, such as the peak luminosity, the Lorentz factor, and the jet opening angle. We compare these correlations with predictions from recent numerical simulations for a relativistic structured -possibly wobbling -jet and assess the value of temporal variability studies as probes of prompt-emission dissipation physics. Methods. We used the peak detection algorithm mepsa to identify the shortest pulse within a GRB time history and preliminarily calibrated mepsa to estimate the full width half maximum (FWHM) duration. We then applied this framework to two sets of GRBs:

Long gamma-ray burst GRB 191016A was a bright and slow rising burst that was detected by the Swift satellite and followed up by ground based Liverpool Telescope (LT). LT follow-up started 2411-s after the Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) trigger using imager IO:O around the time of the late optical peak. From 3987 − 7687-s, we used the LT polarimeter RINGO3 to make polarimetric and photometric observations of the GRB simultaneously in the V, R and I bands. The combined optical light curve shows an initial late peak followed by a decline until 6147-s, 6087-s, and 5247-s for I, R and V filters respectively followed by a flattening phase. There is evidence of polarization at all phases including polarization ($P = 14.6 \pm 7.2 \%$) which is coincident with the start of the flattening phase. The combination of the light curve morphology and polarization measurement favours an energy injection scenario where slower magnetised ejecta from the central engine catches up with the decelerating blast wave. We calculate the minimum energy injection to be ΔE/E > 0.36. At a later time combining the optical light curve from BOOTES (reported via GCN) and IO:O we see evidence of a jet break with jet opening angle 2○.

The contemporaneous detection of gravitational waves and gamma rays from GW170817/GRB 170817A, followed by kilonova emission a day after, confirmed compact binary neutron star mergers as progenitors of short-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and cosmic sources of heavy r-process nuclei. However, the nature (and life span) of the merger remnant and the energy reservoir powering these bright gamma-ray flashes remains debated, while the first minutes after the merger are unexplored at optical wavelengths. Here, we report the earliest discovery of bright thermal optical emission associated with short GRB 180618A with extended gamma-ray emission—with ultraviolet and optical multicolor observations starting as soon as 1.4 minutes post-burst. The spectrum is consistent with a fast-fading afterglow and emerging thermal optical emission 15 minutes post-burst, which fades abruptly and chromatically (flux density F ν ∝ t −α , α = 4.6 ± 0.3) just 35 minutes after the GRB. Our observations from gamma rays to optical wavelengths are consistent with a hot nebula expanding at relativistic speeds, powered by the plasma winds from a newborn, rapidly spinning and highly magnetized neutron star (i.e., a millisecond magnetar), whose rotational energy is released at a rate L th ∝ t −(2.22±0.14) to reheat the unbound merger-remnant material. These results suggest that such neutron stars can survive the collapse to a black hole on timescales much larger than a few hundred milliseconds after the merger and power the GRB itself through accretion. Bright thermal optical counterparts to binary merger gravitational wave sources may be common in future wide-field fast-cadence sky surveys.