Searching for the long-duration gamma-ray burst progenitor /
Nominated as an outstanding thesis by the Department of Physics and Astronomy of the University of New Mexico, this thesis seeks to identify the gamma-ray burst (GRB) progenitor. GRBs are extragalactic explosions that briefly outshine entire galaxies, but the mechanism that can release that much en...
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| Format: | eBook |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Cham
Springer International Publishing
2014.
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| Series: | Springer Theses, Recognizing Outstanding Ph.D. Research
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Click here to view the full text content |
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| Summary: | Nominated as an outstanding thesis by the Department of Physics and Astronomy of the University of New Mexico, this thesis seeks to identify the gamma-ray burst (GRB) progenitor. GRBs are extragalactic explosions that briefly outshine entire galaxies, but the mechanism that can release that much energy over a < 100 second burst is still a mystery. The leading candidate for the GRB progenitor is currently a massive star which collapses to form a black hole-accretion disk system that powers the GRB. GRB afterglows, however, do not always show the expected behavior of a relativistic blast wave interacting with the stellar wind that such a progenitor should have produced before its collapse. In this book, the author uses the Zeus-MP astrophysical hydrodynamics code to model the environment around a stellar progenitor prior to the burst. He then develops a new semi-analytic MHD and emission model to produce light curves for GRBs encountering these realistic density profiles. The work ultimately shows that the circumburst medium surrounding a GRB at the time of the explosion is much more complex than a pure wind, and that observed afterglows are entirely consistent with a large subset of proposed stellar progenitors. |
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| Physical Description: | 1 online resource (XIII, 111 pages) 25 illustration, 21 illustration in colour. |
| ISBN: | 9783319066264 |
| ISSN: | 2190-5053 |