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It is still a highly debated question as to whether fast radio bursts (FRBs) are classified into one or two populations. To probe this question, we perform a statistical analysis using the first Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment Fast Radio Burst (CHIME/FRB) catalog and identify a few discriminant properties between repeating and non-repeating FRBs such as the repetition rate, duration, bandwidth, spectral index, peak luminosity, and potential peak frequency. If repeating and non-repeating FRBs belong to one population, their distribution distinctions for the repetition rate and duration can be explained by the selection effect due to the beamed emission as in Connor et al. However, we obtain that the distribution distinctions for the spectral index and potentially the peak frequency cannot be explained by the beamed emission within the framework of either the coherent curvature radiation or synchrotron maser emission. This indicates that there could be two populations. We further discuss three possible scenarios for the required two populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we propose an accreting stellar binary model for understanding the active periodic fast radio bursts (FRBs). The system consists of a stellar compact object (CO) and a donor star (DS) companion in an eccentric orbit, where the DS fills its own Roche lobe near the periastron. The CO accretes the material from the DS and then drives relativistic magnetic blobs. The interaction between the magnetic blobs and the stellar wind of the DS produces a pair of shocks. We find that both the reverse shock and the forward shock are likely to produce FRBs via the synchrotron maser mechanism. We show that this system can in principle sufficiently produce highly active FRBs with a long lifetime, and also can naturally explain the periodicity and the duty cycle of the activity that appeared in FRBs 180916 and 121102. The radio nebula excited by the long-term injection of magnetic blobs into the surrounding environment may account for the associated persistent radio source. In addiction, we discuss the possible multiwavelength counterparts of FRB 180916 in the context of this model. Finally, we encourage the search for FRBs in ultraluminous X-ray sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assuming that the shallow-decaying phase in the early X-ray light curves of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) is attributed to the dipole radiations (DRs) of a newborn magnetar, we present a comparative analysis for the magnetars born in death of massive stars and merger of compact binaries with long and short GRB (lGRB and sGRB) data observed with the Swift mission. We show that the typical braking index (n) of the magnetars is ∼3 in the sGRB sample, and it is ∼4 for the magnetars in the lGRB sample. Selecting a sub-sample of the magnetars whose spin-down is dominated by DRs (n ≲ 3) and adopting a universal radiation efficiency of 0.3, we find that the typical magnetic field strength (B p ) is 1016 G versus 1015 G and the typical initial period (P 0) is ∼20 ms versus 2 ms for the magnetars in the sGRBs versus lGRBs. They follow the same relation between P 0 and the isotropic GRB energy as |$P_0\propto E_{\rm jet}^{-0.4}$|⁠. We also extend our comparison analysis to superluminous supernovae (SLSNe) and stable pulsars. Our results show that a magnetar born in merger of compact stars tends to have a stronger B p and a longer P 0 by about one order of magnitude than that born in collapse of massive stars. Its spin-down is dominated by the magnetic DRs as old pulsars, being due to its strong magnetic field strength, whereas the early spin-down of magnetars born in massive star collapse is governed by both the DRs and gravitational wave (GW) emission. A magnetar with a faster rotation speed should power a more energetic jet, being independent of its formation approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate the energy-source models for the most luminous supernova ASASSN-15lh. We revisit the ejecta–circumstellar medium (CSM) interaction (CSI) model and the CSI plus magnetar spin-down with full gamma-ray/X-ray trapping, which were adopted by Chatzopoulos et al., and find that the two models cannot fit the bolometric light curve (LC) of ASASSN-15lh. Therefore, we consider a CSI plus magnetar model with the gamma-ray/X-ray leakage effect to eliminate the late-time excess of the theoretical LC. We find that this revised model can reproduce the bolometric LC of ASASSN-15lh. Moreover, we construct a new hybrid model (i.e., the CSI plus fallback model), and find that it can also reproduce the bolometric LC of ASASSN-15lh. Assuming that the conversion efficiency (η) of fallback accretion to an outflow is typically ∼10−3, we derive that the total mass accreted is ∼3.9 M⊙. The inferred CSM mass in the two models is rather large, indicating that the progenitor could have experienced an eruption of hydrogen-poor materials followed by an energetic core-collapse explosion leaving behind a magnetar or a black hole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The LIGO/Virgo and Fermi collaborations recently reported a possible joint detection of a subthreshold gravitational-wave (GW) event and a subthreshold gamma-ray burst (GRB), GBM-190816, that occurred 1.57 s after the merger. We perform an independent analysis of the publicly available data and investigate the physical implications of this potential association. By carefully studying the following properties of GBM-190816 using Fermi/GBM data, including signal-to-noise ratio, duration, f-parameter, spectral properties, energetic properties, and its compliance with some GRB statistical correlations, we confirm that this event is likely a typical short GRB. Assuming its association with the subthreshold GW event, the inferred luminosity is erg s−1. Based on the available information of the subthreshold GW event, we infer the mass ratio q of the compact binary as (90% confidence interval) according to the reported range of luminosity distance. If the heavier compact object has a mass >3 solar masses, q can be further constrained to. The leading physical scenario invokes an NS–BH merger system with the NS tidally disrupted. Within this scenario, we constrain the physical properties of such a system (including mass ratio q, the spin parameters, and the observer's viewing angle) to produce a GRB. The GW data may also allow an NS–BH system with no tidal disruption of the NS (the plunge events) or a BH–BH merger. We apply the charged compact binary coalescence theory (for both a constant charge and an increasing charge for the merging members) to derive the model parameters to account for GBM-190816 and found that the required parameters are extreme. Finally, we argue that the fact that the observed GW–GRB delay timescale is comparable to that of GW170817/GRB 170817A suggests that the GW–GRB time delay of these two cases is mainly defined by the timescale for the jet to propagate to the energy dissipation/GRB emission site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the multi-band properties of the GRB 161017A with z = 2. 0 1 3 , which was detected by Swift and Fermi satellites, and other instruments. The optical and X-ray afterglows were all detected at early times after the prompt emission. The optical light curve shows a very bright onset peak at about 100 s for 13 mag of R -band, while the X-ray light curve occurs several flares at the beginning. We investigate the origin of X-ray and optical afterglows by analyzing the optical and X-ray data. Considering the smooth onset bump in the early time of the optical band and the erratic pulses for the X-ray lightcurve, we suppose that the early optical afterglow may be produced by the external shock, while the early time of X-ray light curve is dominated by flares. Therefore, GRB optical afterglows with smooth onset bump features at early time are possibly produced by external — forward shock (FS). According to the fireball external-model, the temporal slopes of the onset bumps are determined by both the medium density profile and the electron spectral index. Therefore, the afterglow onset bumps would be an ideal probe to study the properties of the fireball and the circumburst medium. The density profile has a slope of k = 0. 7 4 ± 0. 0 8 , which suggests that the circumburst environment of the GRB 161017A would be an intermediate regime that are between the homogeneous interstellar medium (ISM) and wind-type medium. In addition, the optical light curve of the GRB 161017A exhibits a plateau feature and rebrightening after the onset bump, which may be related to the long-acting central engine of GRBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we focus on studying the high energy emission of GRB 160625B. The lightcurve of prompt emission is composed of three episodes: short-soft precursor, hard main burst, and possible long extended emission. The spectra of first and third episode can be fitted by a multi-color blackbody and cutoff power-law model, respectively. However, the spectrum of second episode was contributed by both multi-color blackbody and cutoff power-law. One can estimate the Lorenz factor of jet of first two episodes by invoking photosphere model as Γ0 ~ 175 and 1694, respectively. It suggests that the ejecta of this case evolved from photosphere dominated initially to internal shock later. On the other hand, the optical emission is very bright during the second episode, which is likely a prompt optical emission. Finally, a more shallower normal decay segment appeared, which is consistent with standard external shock model. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Lorentz factor (Γ) is an important parameter related to the relativistic jet physics. We study the evolution patterns of Γ within gamma-ray burst (GRB) and active galactic nuclear jets for individual GRB 090168, GRB 140508A, and 3C 454.3. By estimating the Γ values for well-separated pulses in GRBs 090618 and 140508A with an empirical relation derived from typical GRBs, we find that the Γ evolution pattern in the two GRBs are different. The increasing-to-coasting evolution pattern of Γ in GRB 090618 likely indicates that the GRB fireball is still being accelerated in the prompt phase. The clear decrease evolution pattern of Γ in GRB 140508A suggests the deceleration of the fireball components. By deriving the Γ value through fitting their spectral energy distribution in different flares of 3C 454.3, a pattern of Γ-tracking-γ-ray flux is clearly found, likely indicating that the observed gamma-ray flares are being due to the Doppler boosting effect to the jet emission. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

High energy photon radiations of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are dominated by their jet radiations. It was suggested that relativistic jets powered by different mass-scale black holes may share the same physical laws. A tight relation among the peak luminosity, the peak photon energy in the νfν spectrum, and the initial Lorentz factor is found for GRBs. With samples of GeV-TeV BL Lacs, FSRQs, and NLS1 galaxies, we show that these sources do not follow this relation. This may be attributed to the jet geometry and continuous/episodic jet as well as radiation physics for different kinds of sources. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]