The shallow phase of X-ray afterglows

Details The shallow phase of X-ray afterglows The shallow phase of X-ray afterglows

2008-01-10

arxiv.org/abs/0801.1668v1

AIP Conf.Proc.1000:448-451,2008

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

4 pages, 1 figure, contributed talk for the Gamma Ray Bursts 2007 meeting. Santa Fe, New Mexico, November 5-9, 2007

Scientific paper

10.1063/1.2943505

We propose that the flat decay phase in the first 100-10,000 seconds of the X-ray light curve of Gamma Ray Bursts can be interpreted as prolonged activity of the central engine, producing shells of decreasing bulk Lorentz factors Gamma. The internal dissipation of these late shells produces a continuous and smooth emission, usually dominant in X-rays and sometimes in the optical. When Gamma of the late shells is larger than 1/theta_j, where theta_j is the jet opening angle, we see only a portion of the emitting surface. Eventually, Gamma becomes smaller than 1/theta_j, and the entire emitting surface is visible. When Gamma=1/theta_j there is a break in the light curve, and the plateau ends. During the plateau phase, we see the sum of the "late-prompt" emission (due to late internal dissipation), and the "real afterglow" emission (due to external shocks). A variety of different optical and X-ray light curves is possible, explaining why the X-ray and the optical light curves often do not track each other, and why they often do not have simultaneous breaks.

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