Publication Date:
2015-10-02
Description:
We consider a sample of 10 gamma-ray bursts with long-lasting ( 10 2 s) emission detected by Fermi /Large Area Telescope and for which X-ray data around 1 d are also available. We assume that both the X-rays and the GeV emission are produced by electrons accelerated at the external forward shock, and show that the X-ray and the GeV fluxes lead to very different estimates of the initial kinetic energy of the blast wave. The energy estimated from GeV is on average ~50 times larger than the one estimated from X-rays. We model the data (accounting also for optical detections around 1 d, if available) to unveil the reason for this discrepancy and find that good modelling within the forward shock model is always possible and leads to two possibilities: (i) either the X-ray emitting electrons (unlike the GeV emitting electrons) are in the slow-cooling regime or (ii) the X-ray synchrotron flux is strongly suppressed by Compton cooling, whereas, due to the Klein–Nishina suppression, this effect is much smaller at GeV energies. In both cases the X-ray flux is no longer a robust proxy for the blast wave kinetic energy. On average, both cases require weak magnetic fields (10 –6 B 10 –3 ) and relatively large isotropic kinetic blast wave energies $10^{53}\rm \,erg 〈 {\it E}_{0,kin} 〈 10^{55}\rm \,erg$ corresponding to large lower limits on the collimated energies, in the range $10^{52}\rm \,erg 〈 {\it E}_{\theta ,kin} 〈 5\times 10^{52}\rm \,erg$ for an ISM (interstellar medium) environment with n ~ 1 cm –3 and $10^{52}\rm \,erg 〈 {\it E}_{\theta ,kin} 〈 10^{53}\rm \,erg$ for a wind environment with A * ~ 1. These energies are larger than those estimated from the X-ray flux alone, and imply smaller inferred values of the prompt efficiency mechanism, reducing the efficiency requirements on the still uncertain mechanism responsible for prompt emission.
Print ISSN:
0035-8711
Electronic ISSN:
1365-2966
Topics:
Physics
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