Gamma-ray bursts: Recent results and connections to very high energy cosmic rays and neutrinos

Gamma-ray bursts are the most concentrated explosions in the Universe. They have been detected electromagnetically at energies up to tens of GeV, and it is suspected that they could be active at least up to TeV energies. It is also speculated that they could emit cosmic rays and neutrinos at energies reaching up to the 10¹⁸-10²⁰ eV range. Here we review the recent developments in the photon phenomenology in the light of Swift and Fermi satellite observations, as well as recent IceCube upper limits on their neutrino luminosity. We discuss some of the theoretical models developed to explain these observations and their possible contribution to a very high energy cosmic ray and neutrino background.