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As the most energetic explosions in the Universe, gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are commonly believed to be generated by relativistic jets. Recent observational evidence suggests that the jets producing GRBs are likely to have a structured nature. Some studies have suggested that non-axisymmetric structured jets may be formed through internal non-uniform magnetic dissipation processes or the precession of the central engine. In this study, we analyze the potential characteristics of GRB afterglows within the framework of non-axisymmetric structured jets. We simplify the profile of the asymmetric jet as a step function of the azimuth angle, dividing the entire jet into individual elements. By considering specific cases, we demonstrate that the velocity, energy, and line-of-sight direction of each jet element can greatly affect the behaviour of the overall light curve. The radiative contributions from multiple elements may lead to the appearance of multiple distinct peaks or plateaus in the light curve. Furthermore, fluctuations in the rising and declining segments of each peak can be observed. These findings establish a theoretical foundation for future investigations into the structural characteristics of GRBs by leveraging GRB afterglow data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, some gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) whose light curves consist of repeating emission episodes with similar temporal profiles have attracted extensive attention. They are proposed to be candidates of millilensing events, although smoking gun evidence is lacking, since there are no redshift measurements and no angular offset detections for any of these candidates. Here we show that without invoking gravitational lensing, the repeating light-curve properties of these GRBs could also be interpreted under the jet precession model, as long as the detectable period in every precession circle is less than the precession period, and the precession period is close to the jet emission duration. By fitting the gamma-ray light curves of these GRBs, we suggest that the jet precession angle for these bursts should be relatively small (e.g., θ p < 5.°3), and the jet structure for these bursts are more likely Gaussian. The results suggest us to be careful when identifying millilensing GRBs. Multiband afterglow data and especially angular offset detections are essential to provide comprehensive justification for this identification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we simulate the prompt emission light curve, spectrum, and E p evolution patterns of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) within the framework of the Internal-collision-induced Magnetic Reconnection and Turbulence (ICMART) model. We show that this model can produce a Band-shaped spectrum, whose parameters (E p, α, β) could follow the typical distribution of GRB observations, as long as the magnetic field and the electron acceleration process in the emission region are under appropriate conditions. On the other hand, we show that for one ICMART event, E p evolution is always a hard-to-soft pattern. However, a GRB light curve is usually composed of multiple ICMART events that are fundamentally driven by the erratic activity of the GRB central engine. In this case, we find that if one individual broad pulse in the GRB light curve is composed of multiple ICMART events, the overall E p evolution could be disguised as an intensity-tracking pattern. Therefore, mixed E p evolution patterns can coexist in the same burst, with a variety of combined patterns. Our results support the ICMART model as a competitive model to explain the main properties of GRB prompt emission. The possible challenges faced by the ICMART model are also discussed in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discovery of early bumps in some type-I superluminous supernovae (SLSNe-I) before the main peaks offers an important clue to their energy source mechanisms. In this paper, we updated an analytic magnetar-powered model for fitting the multiband light curves of double-peaked SLSNe-I. The early bump is powered by magnetar-driven shock-breakout thermal emission, and the main peak is powered by a radiative diffusion through the supernova (SN) ejecta as in the standard magnetar-powered model. Generally, the diffusive luminosity is greater than the shock-breakout luminosity at the early time, which usually makes the shock-breakout bumps unclear to observe. To obtain a clear double-peaked light curve, inefficient magnetar heating at early times is required. This model is applied to three well-observed double-peaked SLSNe-I (i.e., SN2006oz, LSQ14bdq, and DES14Xtaz). We find that a relatively massive SN ejecta with Mej ≃ 10.2–18.1M⊙ and relatively large kinetic energy of SN ejecta erg are required, and the thermalization efficiency of the magnetar heating is suppressed before tdelay, which is in the range of ≃15–43 days. The model can reproduce the observed light curves well, with a reasonable and similar set of physical parameters for both the early bump and the main peak, strengthening support for the magnetar-powered model. In the future, modeling of the double-peaked SLSNe-I will become more feasible as more events are discovered before the early bump. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early optical observations of gamma-ray bursts can significantly contribute to the study of the central engine and physical processes therein. However, of the thousands observed so far, only a few have data at optical wavelengths in the first minutes after the onset of the prompt emission. Here we report on GRB 190106A, whose afterglow was observed in optical bands just 36 s after the Swift/BAT trigger, i.e., during the prompt emission phase. The early optical afterglow exhibits a bimodal structure followed by a normal decay, with a faster decay after ∼ T 0 + 1 day. We present optical photometric and spectroscopic observations of GRB 190106A. We derive the redshift via metal absorption lines from Xinglong 2.16 m/BFOSC spectroscopic observations. From the BFOSC spectrum, we measure z = 1.861 ± 0.002. The double-peak optical light curve is a significant feature predicted by the reverse-forward external-shock model. The shallow decay followed by a normal decay in both the X-ray and optical light curves is well explained with the standard forward-shock model with late-time energy injection. Therefore, GRB 190106A offers a case study for GRB emission from both reverse and forward shocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We continue our systematic statistical study of various components of gamma-ray burst (GRB) optical light curves. We decompose the early onset bump and the late re-brightening bump with empirical fits and analyze their statistical properties. Among the 146 GRBs that have well-sampled optical light curves, the onset and re-brightening bumps are observed in 38 and 26 GRBs, respectively. It is found that the typical rising and decaying slopes for both the onset and re-brightening bumps are ~1.5 and ~-1.15, respectively. No early onset bumps in the X-ray band are detected to be associated with the optical onset bumps, while an X-ray re-brightening bump is detected for half of the re-brightening optical bumps. The peak luminosity is anti-correlated with the peak time Lp α t -1.81±0.32 p for the onset bumps and Lp ℵ t -0.83±0.17 p for the re-brightening bumps. Both Lp and the isotropic energy release of the onset bumps are correlated with Eγ,iso, whereas no similar correlation is found for the re-brightening bumps. These results suggest that the afterglow onset bumps are likely due to the deceleration of the GRB fireballs. Taking the onset bumps as probes for the properties of the fireballs and their ambient medium, we find that the typical power-law index of the relativistic electrons is 2.5 and the medium density profile behaves as n ℵ r -1 within the framework of the synchrotron external shock models. With the medium density profile obtained from our analysis, we also confirm the correlation between the initial Lorentz factor (Γ0) and Eiso,γ in our previous work. The jet component that produces the re-brightening bump seems to be on-axis and independent of the prompt emission jet component. Its typical kinetic energy budget would be about one order of magnitude larger than the prompt emission component, but with a lower Γ0, typically several tens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]