GRB 060218/SN 2006aj: Prompt Emission from Inverse-Compton Scattering of Shock Breakout Thermal Photons

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dc.creatorDai, Z. G.
dc.creatorZhang, Bing
dc.creatorLiang, E. W.
dc.date2006-04-24
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T07:04:43Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T07:04:43Z
dc.descriptionThe gamma-ray burst (GRB) 060218/SN 2006aj is a peculiar event, with the second lowest redshift, low luminosity, long duration, chromatic lightcurve features, and in particular, the presence of a thermal component in the X-ray and UV-optical spectra. Thanks to detailed temporal and spectral coverage of the {\em Swift} observatory, the abundant data allow the GRB prompt emission to be modelled in great detail for the first time. The low flux of prompt UV/optical emission disfavors the conventional internal shock/synchrotron radiation models, which generally predict strong UV/optical emission. Here we show that the unusual prompt emission of GRB 060218 can be produced by inverse-Compton scattering of shock-accelerated relativistic electrons off the detected thermal photons. A pair of (forward plus reverse) shocks form when a relativistic outflow interacts with a preexisting slower shell. The observed gamma-ray emission and X-ray emission arise from the reverse-shocked and forward-shocked regions, respectively. A fit to the data requires an initially increasing outflow luminosity, which is consistent with the prediction of the popular collapsar model.
dc.description10 pages, 1 figure
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0604510
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0604510
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/109419
dc.subjectAstrophysics
dc.titleGRB 060218/SN 2006aj: Prompt Emission from Inverse-Compton Scattering of Shock Breakout Thermal Photons
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