A Beaming-Independent Estimate of the Distribution of Gamma Ray Burst Energies

Details A Beaming-Independent Estimate of the Distribution of Gamma Ray Burst Energies A Beaming-Independent Estimate of the Distribution of Gamma Ray Burst Energies

Jan 2011

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011aas...21714103s&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #217, #141.03; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 43, 2011

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Scientific paper

The single most important parameter of any cosmological explosion is the energy release. Energy measurements provide insight into the progenitor object and the explosion mechanism. The measurement of gamma-ray burst (GRB) energies has, traditionally, been a complicated problem due to highly non-spherical energy distributions and relativistic beaming effects. However, on timescales of >100 days GRBs become roughly non-relativistic and spherical. Using radio observations from the Very Large Array at times >100 days after the burst, we are able to calculate the energies of 20 bursts free from the large corrections needed when using early-time observations. We find a median energy in good agreement with results calculated through detailed analysis of multi-wavelength light curves. The similarity between methods provides further evidence that the bulk of the energy budget of GRBs is in the relativistic outflow and not in slower, lagging material. Our results were achieved economically, with only a few radio-wavelength flux measurements per GRB. We suggest that similar future observations with the Expanded VLA will provide unique insight into GRB energetics.

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