The impact of relativistic fireballs on an external medium: A new model for "cosmological"-gamma-ray burst emission

M. J. Rees, P. Mészáros

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

The expansion energy of a relativistic fireball can be reconverted into radiation when it interacts with an external medium. For expansion with Lorentz factors ≳10 3 into a typical galactic environment, the corresponding time-scale in the frame of the observer is of the order of seconds. This mechanism would operate in any cosmological scenario of gamma-ray bursts invoking initial energies of order a per cent of a stellar rest mass, and implies photon energies and time-scales compatible with those observed in gamma-ray bursts.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationCompton Gamma-Ray Observatory
EditorsNeil Gehrels, Michael W. Friedlander, Daryl J. Macomb
PublisherAmerican Institute of Physics Inc.
Pages987-991
Number of pages5
ISBN (Electronic)1563961040
DOIs
StatePublished - 1993
EventCompton Symposium - St. Louis, United States
Duration: Oct 15 1992Oct 17 1992

Publication series

NameAIP Conference Proceedings
Volume280
ISSN (Print)0094-243X
ISSN (Electronic)1551-7616

Conference

ConferenceCompton Symposium
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySt. Louis
Period10/15/9210/17/92

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Physics and Astronomy

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