Collisional mechanism for gamma-ray burst emission

Abstract

Nuclear and Coulomb collisions in gamma-ray burst (GRB) jets create a hot e± plasma. This collisional heating starts when the jet is still opaque, and extends to the transparent region. The e± plasma radiates its energy. As a result, a large fraction of the jet energy is converted to escaping radiation with a well-defined spectrum. The process is simulated in detail using the known rates of collisions and accurate calculations of radiative transfer in the expanding jet. The result reproduces the spectra of observed GRBs that typically peak near 1 MeV and extend to much higher energies with a photon index β ∼ -2.5. This suggests that collisional heating may be the main mechanism for GRB emission. © 2010 The Author. Journal compilation © 2010 RAS.