arXiv subjects

Ehud Nakar

Publications and source records attributed to Ehud Nakar.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources

arXiv2006

Pure and loaded fireballs in SGR giant flares

On December 27, 2004, a giant flare from SGR 1806$-$20 was detected on earth. Its thermal spectrum and temperature suggest that the flare resulted from an energy release of about $10^{47}$ erg/sec close to the surface of a neutron star in the form of radiation and/or pairs. This plasma expanded under its own pressure producing a fireball and the observed gamma-rays escaped once the fireball became optically thin. The giant flare was followed by a bright radio afterglow, with an observable extended size, implying an energetic relativistic outflow. We revisit here the evolution of relativistic fireballs and we calculate the Lorentz factor and energy remaining in relativistic outflow once the radiation escapes. We show that pairs that arise naturally in a pure pairs-radiation fireball do not carry enough energy to account for the observed afterglow. We consider various alternatives and we show that if the relativistic outflow that causes the afterglow is related directly to the prompt flare, then the initial fireball must be loaded by baryons or Poynting flux. While we focus on parameters applicable to the giant flare and the radio afterglow of SGR 1806$-$20 the calculations presented here might be also applicable to GRBs.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2006

Outliers to the Isotropic Energy - Peak Energy Relation in GRBs

The peak energy - isotropic energy (EpEi) relation is among the most intriguing recent discoveries concerning GRBs. It can have numerous implications on our understanding of the emission mechanism of the bursts and on the application of GRBs for cosmological studies. However, this relation was verified only for a small sample of bursts with measured redshifts. We propose here a test whether a burst with an unknown redshift can potentially satisfy the EpEi relation. Applying this test to a large sample of BATSE bursts we find that a significant fraction of those bursts cannot satisfy this relation. Our test is sensitive only to dim and hard bursts and therefore this relation might still hold as an inequality (i.e. there are no intrinsically bright and soft bursts). We conclude that the observed relation seen in the sample of bursts with a known redshift might be influenced by observational biases and from the inability to locate and well localize hard and weak bursts that have only a small number of photons. In particular we point out that the threshold for detection, localization and redshift measurement is essentially higher than the threshold for detection alone. We predict that Swift will detect some hard and weak bursts that would be outliers to the EpEi relation. However, we cannot quantify this prediction. We stress the importance of understanding the detection-localization-redshift threshold for the coming Swift detections.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2005

The Progenitors of Short-Hard Gamma-Ray Bursts from an Extended Sample of Events

The detection of the afterglow emission and host galaxies of short-hard gamma-ray bursts (SHBs) is one of the most exciting recent astronomical discoveries. Indications that SHB progenitors belong to old stellar populations, in contrast to those of the long-soft GRBs, provide a strong clue about their physical nature. Definitive conclusions however are limited by the small number of SHBs with known hosts. Here, we present our investigation of SHBs previously localized by the interplanetary network (IPN) using new and archival optical and X-ray observations. We show that we can likely identify the host galaxies/clusters for additional two bursts, significantly increasing the sample of SHBs with known hosts and/or distances. In particular, we determine that the bright SHB 790613 occurred within the rich galaxy cluster Abell 1892, making it probably the nearest SHB currently known. We show that the brightest galaxy within the error box of SHB 000607, at z=0.14, is most likely the host galaxy of this event. Additionally, we rule out the existence of galaxy overdensities (down to ~21mag) near the locations of two other SHBs, and set a lower limit on their probable redshift. We combine our SHB sample with events discovered recently by the Swift and HETE-2 missions, and investigate the properties of the extended sample. Comparison to SNe Ia shows that the progenitors of SHBs are typically older, implying a typical life time of several Gy. We also show that it is unlikely that there is a significant population of progenitors with life time shorter than 1Gy. This result disfavors the popular model of NS-NS mergers as the progenitors of SHBs.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2005

The distances of short-hard GRBs and the SGR connection

We present a search for nearby (D<100 Mpc) galaxies in the error boxes of six well-localized short-hard gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). None of the six error boxes reveals the presence of a plausible nearby host galaxy. This allows us to set lower limits on the distances and, hence, the isotropic-equivalent energy of these GRBs. Our lower limits are around $1 \times 10^{49}$ erg (at $2σ$ confidence level); as a consequence, some of the short-hard GRBs we examine would have been detected by BATSE out to distances greater than 1 Gpc and therefore constitute a bona fide cosmological population. Our search is partially motivated by the December 27, 2004 hypergiant flare from SGR 1806-20, and the intriguing possibility that short-hard GRBs are extragalactic events of a similar nature. Such events would be detectable with BATSE to a distance of \~50 Mpc, and their detection rate should be comparable to the actual BATSE detection rate of short-hard GRBs. The failure of our search, by contrast, suggests that such flares constitute less than 15% of the short-hard GRBs (<40% at 95% confidence). We discuss possible resolutions of this discrepancy.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2005

A Complete Survey of the Transient Radio Sky and Implications for Gamma-Ray Bursts, Supernovae, and other Relativistic Explosions

We had previously reported on a survey for radio transients, used to set an upper limit on the number of orphan gamma-ray burst (GRB) radio afterglows, and thus a lower limit on the typical GRB beaming factor. Here we report radio and optical follow-up observations of these possible transients, achieving the first full characterization of the transient radio sky. We find that only two source are likely to be real radio transients, an optically obscured radio supernova (SN) in the nearby galaxy NGC 4216, and a source not associated with a bright host galaxy, which is too radio luminous to be a GRB afterglow. We speculate that this may be a flare from a peculiar active galactic nucleus, or a burst from an unusual Galactic compact object. We place an upper limit of 65 radio transients above 6 mJy over the entire sky at the 95% confidence level. The implications are as follows. First, we derive a limit on the typical beaming of GRBs; we find f_b^{-1} >~ 60, ~5 times higher than our earlier results. Second, we impose an upper limit on the rate of events that eject >~ 10^{51} erg in unconfined relativistic ejecta, whether or not accompanied by detectable emission in wavebands other than the radio. Our estimated rate, <=1000/y/Gpc, is about two orders of magnitude smaller than the rate of core-collapse SNe (and type Ib/c events in particular), indicating that only a minority of such events eject significant amounts of relativistic material, which are required by fireball models of long-soft GRBs. Finally, we show that future wider and/or deeper radio variability surveys are expected to detect numerous orphan radio GRB afterglows. Our survey also illustrates the great potential of sensitive surveys with new instruments to revolutionize the study of nearby SNe (abridged).

astro-ph↗

arXiv2005

Weibel Filament Decay and Thermalization in Collisionless Shocks and Gamma-Ray Burst Afterglows

Models for the synchrotron emission of gamma-ray burst afterglows suggest that the magnetic field is generated in the shock wave that forms as relativistic ejecta plow through the circum-burst medium. Transverse Weibel instability efficiently generates magnetic fields near equipartition with the post-shock energy density. The detailed saturated state of the instability, as seen in particle-in-cell simulations, consists of magnetically self-pinched current filaments. The filaments are parallel to the direction of propagation of the shock and are about a plasma skin depth in radius, forming a quasi--two-dimensional structure. We use a rudimentary analytical model to argue that the Weibel filaments are unstable to a kink-like mode, which destroys their quasi--two-dimensional structure. For wavelengths longer than than the skin depth, the instability grows at the rate equal to the speed of light divided by the wavelength. We calculate the transport of collisionless test particles in the filaments experiencing the instability and show that the particles diffuse in energy. This diffusion marks the beginning of thermalization in the shock transition layer, and causes initial magnetic field decay as particles escape from the filaments. We discuss the implications of these results for the structure of the shock and the polarization of the afterglow.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2005

Steady-State Electrostatic Layers from Weibel Instability in Relativistic Collisionless Shocks

It is generally accepted that magnetic fields generated in the nonlinear development of the transverse Weibel instability provide effective collisionality in unmagnetized collisionless shocks. Recently, extensive two and three dimensional simulations improved our understanding of the growth and saturation of the instability in colliding plasma shells. However, the steady-state structure of the shock wave transition layers remains poorly understood. We use basic physical considerations and order-of-magnitude arguments to study the steady state structure in relativistic unmagnetized collisionless shocks in pair plasmas. The shock contains an electrostatic layer resulting from the formation of stationary, magnetically-focused current filaments. The filaments form where the cold upstream plasma and the counterstreaming thermal plasma interpenetrate. The filaments are not entirely neutral and strong electrostatic fields are present. Most of the downstream particles cannot cross this layer into the upstream because they are trapped by the electrostatic field. We identify the critical location in the shock transition layer where the electromagnetic field ceases to be static. At this location, the degree of charge separation in the filaments reaches a maximum value, the current inside the filaments comes close to the Alfvén limit, and the phase space distribution function starts to isotropize. We argue that the radius of the current filaments upstream of the critical location is about twice the upstream plasma skin depth. Finally, we show that some downstream particles cross the electrostatic layer and run ahead of the shock into the preshock medium without causing instability. These particles may play an important role in particle acceleration.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2005

A Note on "Probing the existence of the $E_{peak}$-$E_{iso}$ correlation in long Gamma Ray Bursts" by Ghirlanda et al. - astro-ph/0502186

In Nakar & Piran (2004) we have shown that a large fraction of BATSE bursts cannot satisfy the Amati relation between the isotropic energy - peak energy of GRBs. Our results have been corroborated by a further analysis carried out by Band and Preece (2005). Recently Ghirlanda et al. (2005) claimed that when the exact distribution of the scatter around the Amati relation is taken into account, the BATSE sample is consistent with the Amati relation. We show that the probability that the BATSE sample is consistent with the Amati relation (including the scattering), as found by Ghirlanda et al. (2005) for a sample of 23 bursts with known redshift, is vanishingly small.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2005

Early GRB afterglow from a reverse shock as a tracer of the prompt gamma-ray light curve

We discuss the optical and radio early afterglow emission of the reverse shock that crosses a baryonic ejecta as it interacts with the external interstellar medium (ISM). We show that the peak of the optical flash divides the light curve of the reverse shock into two distinctive phases. The emission after the peak depends weakly on the initial conditions of the ejecta and therefore it can be used as an identifiable signature of a reverse shock emission. On the other hand, the emission before the optical peak is highly sensitive to the initial conditions and therefore can be used to investigate the initial hydrodynamic profile of the ejecta. In particular, if the prompt $γ$-ray emission results from internal shocks, the early reverse shock emission should resemble a smoothed version of the prompt $γ$-ray light curve.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2004

Early Afterglow Emission from a Reverse Shock as a Diagnostic Tool for GRB Outflows

The Gamma-Ray burst (GRB) - afterglow transition is one of the most interesting and least studied GRB phases. During this phase the relativistic ejecta begins interacting with the surrounding matter. A strong short lived reverse shock propagates into the ejecta (provided that it is baryonic) while the forward shock begins to shape the surrounding matter into a Blandford-McKee profile. We suggest a parametrization of the early afterglow light curve and we calculate (analytically and numerically) the observed parameters that results from a reverse shock emission (in an interstellar medium [ISM] environment). We present a new fingerprint of the reverse shock emission that is added to the well known $t^{-2}$ optical decay. Observation of this signature would indicate that the reverse shock dominates the emission during the early afterglow. The existence of a reverse shock will in turn imply that the relativistic ejecta contains a significant baryonic component. This signature would also imply that the surrounding medium is an ISM. We further show that: (i) The reverse shock optical flash depends strongly on initial conditions of the relativistic ejecta. (ii) Previous calculations have generally overestimated the strength of this optical flash. (iii) If the reverse shock dominates the optical flash then detailed observations of the early afterglow light curve would possibly enable us to determine the initial physical conditions within the relativistic ejecta and specifically to estimate its Lorentz factor and its width.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2004

The apparent size of GRB afterglows as a test of the Fireball model

Taylor et al. (2004) reported recently on the first direct measurement of the apparent size of a GRB afterglow. Here we confront these observations with the predictions of the fireball model. We use a simple model to study numerically the evolution of the fireball and determine its apparent size, starting at the early spherical expansion phase through the jet break and into the Newtonian regime. We perform these calculations on the background of a uniform interstellar medium and a massive stellar wind environment. We find that the calculated apparent size at the time of the measurements taken by Taylor et al. depends only weakly on the chosen parameters (the jet opening angle, the energy, and the external density profile). Thus it is reassuring that the only possible outcome of the model, within the plausible range of parameters, agrees very well with the data. These measurements therefore present us with a strong test of possible GRB models, which the fireball model passes successfully.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2004

GRB 990123 revisited: Further Evidence for a Reverse Shock

Recently we have presented a new theoretical analysis of the reverse shock emission. We use this analysis here to revisit GRB 990123. We find new and compelling evidences that the optical flash and the radio flare of GRB 990123 resulted from a reverse shock. This suggests that a significant fraction of the energy of the relativistic ejecta must have been carried by baryons. It also suggests that the external medium is an ISM and that in this burst the reverse shock emission dominated at early time over other possible processes. We use the early optical emission to constrain the physical parameters of the original ejecta and the microscopic parameters in the emitting reverse shocked region.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2004

Testing the Predictions of the Universal Structured GRB Jet Model

The two leading models for the structure of GRB jets are the uniform jet model and the universal structured jet (USJ) model. In the latter, all GRB jets are intrinsically identical and the energy per solid angle drops as the inverse square of the angle from the jet axis. The simplicity of the USJ model gives it a strong predictive power, including a specific prediction for the observed GRB distribution as a function of both the redshift $z$ and the viewing angle $θ$. We show that the current sample of GRBs with known $z$ and estimated $θ$ does not agree with the predictions of the USJ model. This can be best seen for a relatively narrow range in $z$, in which the USJ model predicts that most GRBs should be near the upper end of the observed range in $θ$, while in the observed sample most GRBs are near the lower end of that range. Since the current sample is very inhomogeneous (i.e. involves many different detectors), it should be taken with care and cannot be used to rule out the USJ model. Nevertheless, this sample strongly disfavors the USJ model. Comparing the prediction for the observed GRB distribution both in $θ$ and in $z$, with a larger and more homogeneous GRB sample, like the one expected from Swift, would either clearly rule out the USJ model, or alternatively, provide a strong support for it. The test presented here is general, and can be used to test any model that predicts both a luminosity function and a luminosity-angle relation.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2004

Survival probabilities in time-dependent random walks

We analyze the dynamics of random walks in which the jumping probabilities are periodic {\it time-dependent} functions. In particular, we determine the survival probability of biased walkers who are drifted towards an absorbing boundary. The typical life-time of the walkers is found to decrease with an increment of the oscillation amplitude of the jumping probabilities. We discuss the applicability of the results in the context of complex adaptive systems.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2004

Polarization and light curve variability: the "patchy shell" model

Recent advances in early detection and detailed monitoring of GRB afterglows have revealed variability in some afterglow light curves. One of the leading models for this behavior is the patchy shell model. This model attributes the variability to random angular fluctuations in the relativistic jet energy. These an-axisymmetric fluctuations should also impose variations in the degree and angle of polarization that are correlated to the light curve variability. In this letter we present a solution of the light curve and polarization resulting from a given spectrum of energy fluctuations. We compare light curves produced using this solution to the variable light curve of GRB 021004 and we show that the main features in both the light curve and the polarization fluctuations are very well reproduced by this model. We use our results to draw constraints on the characteristics of the energy fluctuations that might have been present in GRB 021004.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2004

Evolutionary Minority Game: The Roles of Response Time and Mutation Threshold

In the evolutionary minority game, agents are allowed to evolve their strategies (``mutate'') based on past experience. We explore the dependence of the system's global behavior on the response time and the mutation threshold of the agents. We find that the precise values of these parameters determine if the strategy distribution of the population has a U-shape, inverse-U-shape, or a W-shape. It is shown that in a free society (market), highly adaptive agents (with short response times) perform best. In addition, ``patient'' agents (with high mutation threshold) outperform ``nervous'' ones.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2003

Some Recent Peculiarities of the Early Afterglow

We consider some recent developments in GRB/afterglow observations: (i) the appearance of a very hard prompt component in GRB 941017, and (ii) variability in the early afterglow light curves of GRB 021004 and GRB 030329. We show that these observations fit nicely within the internal-external shocks model. The observed variability indicates that the activity of the inner engine is more complicated than was thought earlier and that it involves patchy shells and refreshed shocks. We refute the claims of Berger et al. and of Sheth et al. that the radio and mm observations of GRB 030329 are inconsistent with refreshed shocks.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2003

Implications of the $γ$-ray Polarization of GRB 021206

We compare two possible scenarios for the producing of high level of polarization within the prompt emission of a GRB: synchrotron emission from a relativistic jet with a uniform (in space and time) magnetic field and synchrotron emission from a jet with a random magnetic field in the plane of the shock. Somewhat surprisingly we find that both scenarios can produce a comparable level of polarization ($\sim 45-50$% for the uniform field and $\sim 30-35$% for a random field). Uniform time independent field most naturally arises by expansion of the field from the compact object. It requires a $10^{12}$G field at the source and a transport of the field as $\propto R^{-1}$. It {\it does not} imply Poynting flux domination of the energy of the wind. There is a serious difficulty however, within this scenario, accounting for particle acceleration (which requires random magnetic fields) both for Poynting flux and non-Poynting flux domination. Significant polarization can also arise from a random field provided that the observer is located within $1/Γ$ orientation from a narrow ($θ_j \sim 1/Γ$) jet. While most jets are wider, the jet of GRB 021206 from which strong polarization was recently observed, was most likely very narrow. GRB 021206 is among the strongest bursts ever. Adopting the energy-angle relation we find an estimated angle of $<1/40$rad or even smaller. Thus, for this particular burst the required geometry is not unusual. We conclude that the RHESSI observations suggest that the prompt emission results from synchrotron radiation. However, in view of the comparable levels of polarizations predicted by both the random field and the homogeneous field scenarios these observations are insufficient to rule out or confirm either one.

astro-ph↗