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Gamma Ray Burst as Vacuum Discharge of Super-Schwinger Electric Fields

R. Lieu·Y. Takahashi·T. W. B. Kibble
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Abstract

A theory is proposed to explain with simplicity the basic observed properties of a Gamma Ray Burst (GRB). It employs a well-known result of Schwinger, that static electric fields in excess of a critical value are unstable to pair creation, and catastrophically produces a thermal plasma at temperatures <= 0.5 MeV. By using observational values for the energy and volume of the source, it is shown that the radiation pressure of an expanding GRB `fireball' leads to the formation of a Schwinger critical field at the ambient medium immediately outside the `fireball'. This naturally provides a runaway solution which is inevitable, and which must involve a burst of gamma radiation in the core of the observed energy range and in an optically thin environment. The observed burst duration of 1 -- 10 seconds is also a straightforward consequence of the theory.

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R. Lieu, Y. Takahashi, T. W. B. Kibble. 1998-03-06. Gamma Ray Burst as Vacuum Discharge of Super-Schwinger Electric Fields. https://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9803072

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