Modeling the Optical Afterglow of GRB 030329

Details Modeling the Optical Afterglow of GRB 030329 Modeling the Optical Afterglow of GRB 030329

2005-09-29

arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0509879v2

Astrophys.J.637:873-879,2006

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

18 pages, 3 figures; a few references added and minor word changes; now accepted for publication in ApJ

Scientific paper

10.1086/498423

The best-sampled afterglow light curves are available for GRB 030329. A distinguishing feature of this event is the obvious rebrightening at around 1.6 days after the burst. Proposed explanations for the rebrightening mainly include the two-component jet model and the refreshed shock model, although a sudden density-jump in the circumburst environment is also a potential choice. Here we re-examine the optical afterglow of GRB 030329 numerically in light of the three models. In the density-jump model, no obvious rebrightening can be produced at the jump moment. Additionally, after the density jump, the predicted flux density decreases rapidly to a level that is significantly below observations. A simple density-jump model thus can be excluded. In the two-component jet model, although the observed late afterglow (after 1.6 days) can potentially be explained as emission from the wide-component, the emergence of this emission actually is too slow and it does not manifest as a rebrightening as previously expected. The energy-injection model seems to be the most preferred choice. By engaging a sequence of energy-injection events, it provides an acceptable fit to the rebrightening at $\sim 1.6$ d, as well as the whole observed light curve that extends to $\sim 80$ d. Further studies on these multiple energy-injection processes may provide a valuable insight into the nature of the central engines of gamma-ray bursts.

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