Engineering topics

Sahakyan, N.

Publications and source records attributed to Sahakyan, N..

3 records

DOE OSTI2021

The morphology of the X-ray afterglows and of the jetted GeV emission in long GRBs

ABSTRACT We recall evidence that long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have binary progenitors and give new examples. Binary-driven hypernovae (BdHNe) consist of a carbon–oxygen core (COcore) and a neutron star (NS) companion. For binary periods ∼5 min, the COcore collapse originates the subclass BdHN I characterized by (1) an outstanding supernova (SN; the ‘SN-rise’); (2) a black hole (BH), born from the NS collapse by SN matter accretion, leading to a GeV emission with luminosity $L_{\rm GeV} = A_{\rm GeV}\, t^{-\alpha _{\rm GeV}}$, observed only in some cases; and (3) a new NS (νNS), born from the SN, originating from the X-ray afterglow with $L_\mathrm{ X} = A_{\rm X}\, t^{-\alpha _{\rm X}}$, observed in all BdHN I. We record 378 sources and present for four prototype GRBs 130427A, 160509A, 180720B, and 190114C: (1) spectra, luminosities, SN-rise duration; (2) AX, αX = 1.48 ± 0.32, and (3) the νNS spin time evolution. We infer (i) AGeV, αGeV = 1.19 ± 0.04 and (ii) the BdHN I morphology from time-resolved spectral analysis, three-dimensional simulations, and the GeV emission presence/absence in 54 sources within the Fermi-Large Area Telescope boresight angle. For 25 sources, we give the integrated and time-varying GeV emission, 29 sources have no GeV emission detected and show X/gamma-ray flares previously inferred as observed along the binary plane. The 25/54 ratio implies the GeV radiation is emitted within a cone of half-opening angle ≈60° from the normal to the orbital plane. We deduce BH masses of 2.3–8.9 M⊙ and spin of 0.27–0.87 by explaining the GeV emission from the BH rotational energy extraction, while their time evolution validates the BH mass–energy formula.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2018

A GRB Afterglow Model Consistent with Hypernova Observations

In this paper we describe the afterglows of the long gamma-ray-burst (GRB) 130427A within the context of a binary-driven hypernova. The afterglows originate from the interaction between a newly born neutron star ($ν$NS), created by an Ic supernova (SN), and a mildly relativistic ejecta of a hypernova (HN). Such an HN in turn results from the impact of the GRB on the original SN Ic. The mildly relativistic expansion velocity of the afterglow ($Γ ~ 3$) is determined, using our model-independent approach, from the thermal emission between 196 and 461 s. The power law in the optical and X-ray bands of the afterglow is shown to arise from the synchrotron emission of relativistic electrons in the expanding magnetized HN ejecta. Two components contribute to the injected energy: the kinetic energy of the mildly relativistic expanding HN and the rotational energy of the fast-rotating highly magnetized $ν$NS. We reproduce the afterglow in all wavelengths from the optical (10 14 Hz) to the X-ray band (10 19 Hz) over times from 604 s to 5.18 × 10 6 s relative to the Fermi-GBM trigger. Initially, the emission is dominated by the loss of kinetic energy of the HN component. After 10 5 s the emission is dominated by the loss of rotational energy of the $ν$NS, for which we adopt an initial rotation period of 2 ms and a dipole plus quadrupole magnetic field of $\lesssim$ 7 × 10 12 G or ~10 14 G. This scenario with a progenitor composed of a CO core and an NS companion differs from the traditional ultra-relativistic-jetted treatments of the afterglows originating from a single black hole.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2017

Rapid Gamma-Ray Variability of NGC 1275

We report on a detailed analysis of the γ-ray light curve of NGC 1275 using the Fermi Large Area Telescope data accumulated during 2008–2017. Major γ-ray flares were observed in 2015 October and 2016 December/2017 January when the source reached a daily peak flux of (2.21±0.26)×10{sup −6} photon cm{sup −2} s{sup −1}, achieving a flux of (3.48±0.87)×10{sup −6} photon cm{sup −2} s{sup −1} within 3 hr, which corresponds to an apparent isotropic γ-ray luminosity of ≃3.84×10{sup 45} erg s{sup −1}. The most rapid flare had an e-folding time as short as 1.21±0.22 hr, which had never been previously observed for any radio galaxy in γ-ray band. Also, γ-ray spectral changes were observed during these flares: in the flux versus photon index plane, the spectral evolution follows correspondingly a counterclockwise and a clockwise loop inferred from the light curve generated by an adaptive binning method. On 2016 December 30 and 2017 January 1 the X-ray photon index softened (Γ{sub X}≃1.75--1.77) and the flux increased nearly ∼3 times as compared with the quiet state. The observed hour-scale variability suggests a very compact emission region (R{sub γ}⩽5.22×10{sup 14} (δ/4) cm), implying that the observed emission is most likely produced in the subparsec-scale jet if the entire jet width is responsible for the emission. During the active periods, the γ-ray photon index hardened, shifting the peak of the high-energy spectral component to >GeV, making it difficult to explain the observed X-ray and γ-ray data in the standard one-zone synchrotron self-Compton model.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗