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Sub-TeV or TeV γ -rays have been convincingly detected in the afterglows of some gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). The relativistic jet associated with GRBs may be surrounded by a cocoon and thus the thermal photons of the cocoon pervading the emission region of the jet can be upscattered to the very-high-energy regime (e.g., sub-TeV/TeV) by the electrons in the jet. In this scenario, the electrons in the jet cool down and thus the jet emission in the low-energy regime, e.g., the X-ray or optical, may be suppressed. In this paper, we study the effect of the cocoon's thermal photons on the jet emission in the low-energy regime. We find that the jet emission in the low-energy regime is significantly suppressed when the emission region of the jet is just encircled by a hot cocoon. Correspondingly, there is a sharp decay in the light curves of the jet emission in the low-energy regime, which can be understood to signify strong TeV emission in GRBs. Since the radius of the cocoon expands with the observer time t obs, the suppression of the jet emission in the low-energy regime may be relieved and thus the light curves of the jet emission would return to those of emission without a cocoon-external inverse-Compton cooling effect. For a long-lasting jet with power ∝ (1 + t obs / t c) α , an internal plateau followed by a sharp decay may generally appear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is generally believed that the variability of photospheric emission in gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) traces that of the jet power. This work further investigates the variability of photospheric emission in a variable jet. By setting a constant η (dimensionless entropy of the jet), we find that the light curve of the photospheric emission shows a "tracking" pattern on the time profile of jet power. However, the relative variability is significantly low in the photospheric emission compared with that in the jet power. If the η is genetic variable, the variability of the photospheric emission is not only limited by the jet power but also affected by η strongly. It becomes complex and is generally different from that of the jet power. Moreover, the opposite phase may stand in the variabilities of the photospheric emission at different photon energies. We also find that the relative variability does not remain constant over the photon energies with an obvious reduction at a certain energy. This is consistent with the analysis of GRB 090902B in which an appreciable thermal component has been detected in a wide energy range. For several other GRBs coupling with the thermal component, we conservatively evaluate the variability of the thermal and nonthermal emission, respectively. Our results show that the relative variability of the thermal emission is likely comparable to that of the nonthermal emission for these bursts. In addition, the analysis of GRB 120323A reveals that the variability of the photospheric emission may be of the opposite phase from that of the nonthermal emission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultra-long-duration gamma-ray burst GRB 111209A was found to be associated with a very luminous supernovae (SNe) SN 2011kl. The physics of GRB 111209A/SN 2011kl has been extensively studied in the literature, but such research has not yet settled down. By investigating in detail the characteristics of the X-ray light curve of GRB 111209A, coupled with the temporal and spectral features observed in SN 2011kl, we argue that a short-lived supramassive magnetar could be responsible for the initial shallow X-ray emission. Then the electromagnetic extraction of spin energy from a black hole (BH) results in the steeply declining X-ray flux when the magnetar collapses into a BH. A fraction of the envelope materials falls back and activates the accretion onto the newborn BH, which produces the X-ray rebrightening bump at late times. During this process, a centrifugally driven baryon-rich quasi-isotropic Blandford & Payne outflow from the revived accretion disk deposits its kinetic energy on the SN ejecta, which powers luminous SN 2011kl. Finally, we place a limitation on the magnetar's physical parameters based on the observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present very early ground-based optical follow-up observations of gamma-ray burst (GRB) 140423A, which was discovered by the Swift/Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) and by the Fermi/Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor. Its broadband afterglow was monitored by the Swift/X-Ray Telescope and ground-based optical telescopes from T0 + 70.96 s to 4.8 days after the Swift/BAT trigger. This is one more case of a prompt optical emission observation. The temporal and spectral joint fits of the multiwavelength light curves of GRB 140423A reveal that achromatic behavior is consistent with the external shock model, including a transition from a stellar wind to the interstellar medium (ISM) and energy injection. In terms of the optical light curves, there is an onset bump in the early afterglow with a rising index (peaking at s). It then decays with a steep index , and shows a steeper to flatter "transition" with at around T0 + 5000 s. The observed X-ray afterglow reflects achromatic behavior, as does the optical light curve. There is no obvious evolution of the spectral energy distribution between the X-ray and optical afterglows, with an average value of the photon index. This "transition" is consistent with an external shock model having the circumburst medium transition from a wind to the ISM, by introducing a long-lasting energy injection with a Lorentz factor stratification of the ejecta. The best parameters from Monte Carlo Markov Chain fitting are erg, , , , , cm, , , , , and. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gamma-ray burst (GRB) 150910A was detected by Swift/Burst Alert Telescope (BAT), and then rapidly observed by Swift/XRT, Swift/Ultraviolet-Optical Telescope, and ground-based telescopes. We report Lick Observatory spectroscopic and photometric observations of GRB 150910A, and we investigate the physical origins of both the optical and X-ray afterglows, incorporating data obtained with BAT and XRT. The light curves show that the jet-emission episode lasts ∼360 s with a sharp pulse from BAT to XRT (Episode I). In Episode II, the optical emission has a smooth onset bump followed by a normal decay (αR,2 ≈ −1.36), as predicted in the standard external shock model, while the X-ray emission exhibits a plateau (αX,1 ≈ −0.36) followed by a steep decay (αX,2 ≈ −2.12). The light curves show obvious chromatic behavior with an excess in the X-ray flux. Our results suggest that GRB 150910A is an unusual GRB driven by a newly born magnetar with its extremely energetic magnetic dipole (MD) wind in Episode II, which overwhelmingly dominates the observed early X-ray plateau. The radiative efficiency of the jet prompt emission is ηγ ≈ 11%. The MD wind emission was detected in both the BAT and XRT bands, making it the brightest among the current sample of MD winds seen by XRT. We infer the initial spin period (P0) and the surface polar cap magnetic field strength (Bp) of the magnetar as 1.02 × 1015 G ≤ Bp ≤ 1.80 × 1015 G and 1 ms ≤ P0v ≤ 1.77 ms, and the radiative efficiency of the wind is ηw ≥ 32%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]