Circular polarization in the optical afterglow of GRB 121024A

Wiersema, K.; Covino, S.; Toma, Kenji; Horst, A. J. van der; Varela, K.; Min, M.; Greiner, J.; Starling, R. L. C.; Tanvir, N. R.; Wijers, R. A. M. J.; Campana, S.; Curran, P. A.; Fan, Yi‐Zhong; Fynbo, J. P. U.; Gorosabel, J.; Gomboc, A.; Götz, D.; Hjorth, J.; Jin, Zhi-Ping; Kobayashi, S.; Kouveliotou, C.; Mundell, C. G.; O’Brien, P. T.; Pian, E.; Rowlinson, A.; Russell, D. M.; Salvaterra, R.; Alighieri, S. di Serego; Tagliaferri, G.; Vergani, S. D.; Elliott, J.; Fariña, C.; Hartoog, O. E.; Karjalainen, R.; Klose, S.; Knust, F.; Levan, A. J.; Schady, P.; Sudilovsky, V.; Willingale, R.

doi:10.1038/nature13237

Cited by 105 publications

(117 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…In the optical, linear polarization of the order of a few percent has been observed in emission from the forward shock (Covino et al 1999;, while this can be tens of percent for the reverse shock (Mundell et al 2013). Optical circular polarization has recently been discovered, at a level of only a few tenths of a percent (Wiersema et al 2014). At radio frequencies the most stringent constraints have been obtained for GRB 030329 at late times (Taylor et al 2005), and for GRB 130427A at early times .…”

Section: Pos(aaska14)052mentioning

confidence: 92%

The SKA View of Gamma-Ray Bursts

Burlon¹,

Ghirlanda²,

Horst³

et al. 2015

Proceedings of Advancing Astrophysics With the Square Kilometre Array — PoS(AASKA14)

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Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are some of the most extreme events in the Universe. As well as providing a natural laboratory for investigating fundamental physical processes, they might trace the cosmic star formation rate up to extreme redshifts and probe the composition of the intergalactic medium over most of the Universe's history. Radio observations of GRBs play a key part in determining their physical properties, but currently they are largely limited to follow-up observations of γ-ray-detected objects. The SKA will significantly increase our ability to study GRB afterglows, following up several hundred objects in the high frequency bands already in the "early science" implementation of the telescope. SKA1-MID Bands 4 (4 GHz) and 5 (9.2 GHz) will be particularly suited to the detection of these transient phenomena. The SKA will trace the peak of the emission, sampling the thick-to-thin transition of the evolving spectrum, and follow-up the afterglow down to the time the ejecta slow down to non-relativistic speeds. The full SKA will be able to observe the afterglows across the non-relativistic transition, for ∼ 25% of the whole GRB population. This will allow us to get a significant insight into the true energy budget of GRBs, probe their surrounding density profile, and the shock microphysics. The SKA will also be able to routinely detect the elusive "orphan afterglow" emission, from the population of GRBs whose jets are not pointed towards the Earth. We expect that a deep all-sky survey such as SKA1-SUR will see around 300 orphan afterglows every week. We predict these detection to be ∼ > 1000 when the full SKA telescope will be operational.Advancing Astrophysics with the Square Kilometre Array

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Section: Pos(aaska14)052mentioning

confidence: 92%

The SKA View of Gamma-Ray Bursts

Burlon¹,

Ghirlanda²,

Horst³

et al. 2015

Proceedings of Advancing Astrophysics With the Square Kilometre Array — PoS(AASKA14)

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“…Since the energy in the original ejecta is quickly transferred to the ambient medium and emission originates from a blast wave, we expect low degrees of linear polarization and negligible circular polarization at late times. We recently detected circularly polarized optical light in the afterglow of GRB 121024A, which was measured 0.15 days after the burst [31]. This might be due to anisotropic electron pitch angle distributions (however, see also [32]).…”

Section: Early Afterglow and Magnetic Fields In Grb Jetsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polarized Emission from Gamma-Ray Burst Jets

Kobayashi

2017

Galaxies

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I review how polarization signals have been discussed in the research field of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs). I mainly discuss two subjects in which polarimetry enables us to study the nature of relativistic jets. (1) Jet breaks: Gamma-ray bursts are produced in ultra-relativistic jets. Due to the relativistic beaming effect, the emission can be modeled in a spherical model at early times. However, as the jet gradually slows down, we begin to see the edge of the jet together with polarized signals at some point. (2) Optical flash: later time afterglow is known to be insensitive to the properties of the original ejecta from the GRB central engine. However, a short-lived, reverse shock emission would enable us to study the nature of of GRB jets. I also briefly discuss the recent detection of optical circular polarization in GRB afterglow.

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“…The first claim of detection of circular polarization in GRB afterglow radiation has been recently reported in the optical afterglow of GRB 121024A. 5 The Circular Polarization of GRB can be generated due to several interactions such as Compton scattering in noncommutative space time in Ref. 6, photon propagation in presence of magnetic field in Refs.…”

Section: 4mentioning

confidence: 99%