Thermal emission in gamma-ray burst afterglows

Abstract

We study thermal emission from circumstellar structures heated by gamma-ray burst (GRB) radiation and ejecta and calculate its contribution to GRB optical and X-ray afterglows using the modified radiation hydrocode STELLA. It is shown that thermal emission originating in heated dense shells around the GRB progenitor star can reproduce X-ray plateaus (like observed in GRB 050904, 070110) as well as deviations from a power-law fading observed in optical afterglows of some GRBs (e.g. 020124, 030328, 030429X, 050904). Thermal radiation pressure in the heated circumburst shell dominates the gas pressure, producing rapid expansion of matter similar to supernova-like explosions close to opacity or radiation flux density jumps in the circumburst medium. This phenomenon can be responsible for the so-called supernova bumps in optical afterglows of several GRBs. Such a 'quasi-supernova' suggests interpretation of the GRB-SN connection which does not directly involve the explosion of the GRB progenitor star. © 2013 The Author Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.