A γ-ray burst with a high-energy spectral component inconsistent with the synchrotron shock model

M. M. González (), B. L. Dingus, Y. Kaneko, R. D. Preece, C. D. Dermer and M. S. Briggs
Additional contact information
M. M. González: University of Wisconsin
B. L. Dingus: University of Wisconsin
Y. Kaneko: University of Alabama in Huntsville, National Space Science and Technology Center
R. D. Preece: University of Alabama in Huntsville, National Space Science and Technology Center
C. D. Dermer: Code 7653, Naval Research Laboratory
M. S. Briggs: University of Alabama in Huntsville, National Space Science and Technology Center

Nature, 2003, vol. 424, issue 6950, 749-751

Abstract: Abstract Gamma-ray bursts are among the most powerful events in nature. These events release most of their energy as photons with energies in the range from 30 keV to a few MeV, with a smaller fraction of the energy radiated in radio, optical, and soft X-ray afterglows1. The data are in general agreement with a relativistic shock model2, where the prompt and afterglow emissions3 correspond to synchrotron radiation from shock-accelerated electrons. Here we report an observation of a high-energy (multi-MeV) spectral component in the burst of 17 October 1994 that is distinct from the previously observed lower-energy γ-ray component. The flux of the high-energy component decays more slowly and its fluence is greater than the lower-energy component; it is described by a power law of differential photon number index approximately -1 up to about 200 MeV. This observation is difficult to explain with the standard synchrotron shock model2, suggesting the presence of new phenomena such as a different non-thermal electron process, or the interaction of relativistic protons with photons at the source.

Date: 2003
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature01869 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:nature:v:424:y:2003:i:6950:d:10.1038_nature01869

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/

DOI: 10.1038/nature01869

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

More articles in Nature from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().