Comparative study of the two large flares from SGR1900+14 with the BeppoSAXGamma-Ray Burst Monitor

We report on spectral and temporal results of the 40–700 keV observations, obtained with the Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor (GRBM) on board BeppoSAX, of the two large flares from the Soft Gamma-ray Repeater SGR 1900+14 occurred on August 27, 1998 and April 18, 2001. From their intensity, fluence and duration, the first one was classified as “giant” and the second as “intermediate”.The spectral results have been obtained with an improved response function of the GRBM. We find that the two events have similar spectral properties, but different temporal properties. The major difference concerns the time profiles of the light curves, whereas the lack of evidence in the 2001 flare for the erratic time variability found at high frequencies (10–1000 Hz) in the 1998 flare could be ascribed to lower counting statistics. We discuss these results in the light of the magnetar model proposed for SGR sources.