Abstract:The early, highly time-variable X-ray emission immediately following gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) exhibits strong spectral variations that are unlike the temporally smoother emission that dominates after t $ 10 3 s. The ratio of hardchannel (1.3Y10.0 keV ) to soft-channel (0.3Y1.3 keV ) counts in the Swift X-ray telescope provides a new measure delineating the end time of this emission. We define T H as the time at which this transition takes place and measure for 59 events a range of transition times that spans 10… Show more
“…11. Our model-derived hardness ratio shows a characteristic signature that is compatible with observations at least during the early stages (Butler & Kocevski 2007;Liang et al 2007). On the other hand, it is still inconclusive regarding the late stages (P. O'Brien -priv.…”
Aims. We investigate the behavior of the frequency-centered light curves expected within the standard model of gamma ray bursts, allowing the maximum electron energy (γ max ) to be a free parameter that may take low values. Methods. We solve the spatially averaged kinetic equations that describe the simultaneous evolution of particles and photons, obtaining the multi-wavelength spectra as a function of time. From these we construct the frequency-centered light curves with an emphasis on the X-ray and optical bands. Results. We show that in cases where γ max takes low values, the produced X-ray light curves show a plateau as the synchrotron component gives its place to the synchrotron self-Compton one in the X-ray band.
“…11. Our model-derived hardness ratio shows a characteristic signature that is compatible with observations at least during the early stages (Butler & Kocevski 2007;Liang et al 2007). On the other hand, it is still inconclusive regarding the late stages (P. O'Brien -priv.…”
Aims. We investigate the behavior of the frequency-centered light curves expected within the standard model of gamma ray bursts, allowing the maximum electron energy (γ max ) to be a free parameter that may take low values. Methods. We solve the spatially averaged kinetic equations that describe the simultaneous evolution of particles and photons, obtaining the multi-wavelength spectra as a function of time. From these we construct the frequency-centered light curves with an emphasis on the X-ray and optical bands. Results. We show that in cases where γ max takes low values, the produced X-ray light curves show a plateau as the synchrotron component gives its place to the synchrotron self-Compton one in the X-ray band.
“…In general, the observed multiwavelength afterglows have been found consistent with the external forward shock models (e.g., Piran 2004; Mészáros 2006 for reviews). In contrast to the remarkable variations of the X-ray light curves, most spectra of X-ray afterglows show little variation (Butler & Kocevski 2007;Evans et al 2009;Shao et al 2010), which is consistent with the prediction of standard external forward shock models.…”
Strong spectral softening has been revealed in the late X-ray afterglows of some gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). The scenario of X-ray scattering around the circumburst dusty medium has been supported by previous works due to its overall successful prediction of both the temporal and spectral evolution of some X-ray afterglows. To further investigate the observed feature of spectral softening we now systematically search the X-ray afterglows detected by the X-ray telescope aboard Swift and collect 12 GRBs with significant late-time spectral softening. We find that dust scattering could be the dominant radiative mechanism for these X-ray afterglows regarding their temporal and spectral features. For some well-observed bursts with high-quality data, the time-resolved spectra could be wellproduced within the scattering scenario by taking into account the X-ray absorption from the circumburst medium. We also find that during spectral softening the power-law index in the high-energy end of the spectra does not vary much. The spectral softening is mainly manifested by the spectral peak energy continually moving to the soft end.
“…positive-valued) hardness ratio bin are discarded and not converted into flux. At later times the spectral evolution is minimal (Butler & Kocevski 2007b), thus for XRT any light curve bins which occur after the final hardness ratio bin are converted to flux using the conversion factors from the final hardness bin.…”
Context. Gamma Ray Burst models predict the broadband spectral evolution and the temporal evolution of the energy flux. In contrast, standard data analysis tools and data repositories provide count-rate data, or use single flux conversion factors for all of the data, neglecting spectral evolution. Aims. To produce Swift BAT and XRT light curves in flux units, where the spectral evolution is accounted for. Methods. We have developed software to use the hardness ratio information to track spectral evolution of GRBs, and thus to convert the count-rate light curves from the BAT and XRT instruments on Swift into accurate, evolution-aware flux light curves. Results. The Swift Burst Analyser website ⋆⋆ contains BAT, XRT and combined BAT-XRT flux light curves in three energy regimes for all GRBs observed by the Swift satellite. These light curves are automatically built and updated when data become available, are presented in graphical and plain-text format, and are available for download and use in research.
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