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Gamma-Ray Burst Early Afterglows

Bing Zhang
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Abstract

The successful launch and operation of NASA's Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Explorer open a new era for the multi-wavelength study of the very early afterglow phase of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). GRB early afterglow information is essential to explore the unknown physical composition of GRB jets, the link between the prompt gamma-ray emission and the afterglow emission, the GRB central engine activity, as well as the immediate GRB environment. Here I review some of the recent theoretical efforts to address these problems and describe how the latest Swift data give answers to these outstanding questions.

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Bing Zhang. 2005-09-19. Gamma-Ray Burst Early Afterglows. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2141841

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