Very high efficiency photospheric emission in long duration gamma-ray bursts

We numerically analyze the evolution of a long-duration gamma-ray burst jet as it leaves the progenitor star and propagates to the photospheric radius, where radiation can be released. We find that the interaction of the relativistic material with the progenitor star has influences well beyond the s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:arXiv.org 2009-06
Main Authors: Lazzati, Davide, Morsony, Brian J, Begelman, Mitch
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Collimation
Computer simulation
Emission analysis
Gamma ray bursts
Gamma rays
Photosphere
Radiators
Stellar evolution
Stellar surfaces
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Summary:We numerically analyze the evolution of a long-duration gamma-ray burst jet as it leaves the progenitor star and propagates to the photospheric radius, where radiation can be released. We find that the interaction of the relativistic material with the progenitor star has influences well beyond the stellar surface. Tangential collimation shocks are observed throughout the jet evolution, out to about 100 stellar radii, which is the whole range of our simulation. We find that the jet is internally hot at the photospheric radius and we compute the photospheric emission. The photosphere is a very efficient radiator, capable of converting more than half of the total energy of the jet into radiation. We show that bright photospheres are a common feature of jets born inside massive progenitor stars and that this effect can explain the high radiative efficiency observed in long-duration bursts.
ISSN:2331-8422
DOI:10.48550/arxiv.0904.2779