Ruo-Yu Liu

ICECUBE NONDETECTION OF GAMMA-RAY BURSTS: CONSTRAINTS ON THE FIREBALL PROPERTIES

The increasingly deep limit on the neutrino emission from gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) with IceCube observations has reached a level that could place useful constraints on the fireball properties. We first present a revised analytic calculation of the neutrino flux that predicts a flux of one order of magnitude lower than that obtained by the IceCube Collaboration. For the benchmark model parameters (e.g., the bulk Lorentz factor is Γ = 102.5, the observed variability time for the long GRBs is t ob v = 0.01 s, and the ratio between the energy in the accelerated protons and in the radiation is η p = 10 for every burst) in the standard internal shock scenario, the predicted neutrino flux from 215 bursts during the period of the 40- and 59-string configurations is a factor of ~3 below the IceCube sensitivity. However, if we accept the recently found inherent relation between the bulk Lorentz factor and the burst energy, then the expected neutrino flux significantly increases and the spectral peak shifts to a lower energy. In this case, the nondetection implies that the baryon-loading ratio should be η p 10 if the variability time of the long GRBs is fixed to t ob v = 0.01 s. Instead, if we relax the standard internal-shock scenario but still assume η p = 10, then the nondetection constrains the dissipation radius, R 4 × 1012 cm, assuming the same dissipation radius for every burst and benchmark parameters for the fireballs. We also calculate the diffuse neutrino flux from the GRBs for different luminosity functions from the literature. The expected flux exceeds the current IceCube limit for some of the luminosity functions, and, thus, the nondetection constrains η p 10 when the variability time of the long GRBs is fixed at t ob v = 0.01 s.

Modeling the Broadband Emission of GRB 090902B

GRB 090902B, detected by Fermi Large Array Telescope (Fermi/LAT), shows extend high-energy emission (>100 MeV) up to 10^3 s after the burst, which decays with time in a power-law as t^{-1.5}. It has been also observed by several follow-up low-energy instruments, including an early optical detection around 5000 s after the burst. The optical emission at early time decays faster than t^{-1.6}, which has been suspected to originate from the reverse shock. We here explore the models that can possibly explain the the broadband afterglow emission of GRB 090902B. We find that the reverse shock model for the early optical emission would overpredict the radio afterglow flux that is inconsistent with observations. A partially radiative blast wave model, which though is able to produce a sufficiently steep decay slope, can not explain the broadband data of GRB 090902B. The two-component jet model, which consists of a narrow and bright jet component in the core and a surrounding wider and less energetic jet component, is shown to be able to explain the broadband afterglow data, including the LAT high-energy data after ~50 s and low-energy (radio, optical and X-ray) afterglow data. The early-time high-energy emission detected by LAT before ~50 s is likely due to internal origin as that of the sub-MeV emission. The highest energy (33 GeV) photon of GRB090902B detected at 80 s can be marginally accommodated within the forward shock emission under the optimistic condition that electrons are accelerated by the Bohm diffusive shock.

Diffuse PeV Neutrinos from Gamma-Ray Bursts

The IceCube Collaboration recently reported the potential detection of two cascade neutrino events in the energy range 1-10 PeV. We study the possibility that these PeV neutrinos are produced by gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), paying special attention to the contribution by untriggered GRBs that elude detection due to their low photon flux. Based on the luminosity function, rate distribution with redshift and spectral properties of GRBs, we generate, using a Monte Carlo simulation, a GRB sample that reproduces the observed fluence distribution of Fermi/GBM GRBs and an accompanying sample of untriggered GRBs simultaneously. The neutrino flux of every individual GRB is calculated in the standard internal shock scenario, so that the accumulative flux of the whole samples can be obtained. We find that the neutrino flux in PeV energies produced by untriggered GRBs is about two times higher than that produced by the triggered ones. Considering the existing IceCube limit on the neutrino flux of triggered GRBs, we find that the total flux of triggered and untriggered GRBs can reach at most a level of ~10–9 GeV cm–2 s–1 sr–1, which is insufficient to account for the reported two PeV neutrinos. Possible contributions to diffuse neutrinos by low-luminosity GRBs and the earliest population of GRBs are also discussed.

DISCOVERY OF AN EXTRA HARD SPECTRAL COMPONENT IN THE HIGH-ENERGY AFTERGLOW EMISSION OF GRB 130427A

The extended high-energy gamma-ray (> 100 MeV) emission which occurs after prompt gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) is usually characterized by a single power-law spectrum, which has been explained as the afterglow synchrotron radiation. The afterglow inverse Compton emission has long been predicted to be able to produce a high-energy component as well, but previous observations have not clearly revealed such a signature, probably due to the small number of > 10 GeV photons even for the brightest GRBs known so far. In this Letter, we report on the Fermi Large Area Telescope observations of the > 100 MeV emission from the very bright and nearby GRB130427A. We characterize the time-resolved spectra of the GeV emission from the GRB onset to the afterglow phase. By performing time-resolved spectral fits of GRB130427A, we found strong evidence of an extra hard spectral component that exists in the extended high-energy emission of this GRB. We argue that this hard component may arise from the afterglow inverse Compton emission.

SPIN EVOLUTION OF MILLISECOND MAGNETARS WITH HYPERACCRETING FALLBACK DISKS: IMPLICATIONS FOR EARLY AFTERGLOWS OF GAMMA-RAY BURSTS

The shallow decay phase or plateau phase of early afterglows of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), discovered by Swift, is currently understood as being due to energy injection to a relativistic blast wave. One natural scenario for energy injection invokes a millisecond magnetar as the central engine of GRBs because the conventional model of a pulsar predicts a nearly constant magnetic-dipole-radiation luminosity within the spin-down timescale. However, we note that significant brightening occurs in some early afterglows, which apparently conflicts with the above scenario. Here we propose a new model to explain this significant brightening phenomena by considering a hyperaccreting fallback disk around a newborn millisecond magnetar. We show that for typical values of the model parameters, sufficient angular momentum of the accreted matter is transferred to the magnetar and spins it up. It is this spin-up that leads to a dramatic increase of the magnetic-dipole-radiation luminosity with time and thus significant brightening of an early afterglow. Based on this model, we carry out numerical calculations and fit well early afterglows of 12 GRBs assuming sufficiently strong fallback accretion. If the accretion is very weak, our model turns out to be the conventional energy-injection scenario of a pulsar. Therefore, our model can provide a unified explanation for the shallow decay phase, plateaus, and significant brightening of early afterglows.

Interpretation of the Unprecedentedly Long-lived High-energy Emission of GRB 130427A

High-energy photons (>100 MeV) are detected by the Fermi/Large Area Telescope from GRB 130427A up to almost one day after the burst, with an extra hard spectral component discovered in the high-energy afterglow. We show that this hard spectral component arises from afterglow synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) emission. This scenario can explain the origin of >10 GeV photons detected up to similar to 30,000 s after the burst, which would be difficult to explain via synchrotron radiation due to the limited maximum synchrotron photon energy. The lower energy multi-wavelength afterglow data can be fitted simultaneously by the afterglow synchrotron emission. The implication of detecting the SSC emission for the circumburst environment is discussed.

Tidal disruption jets of supermassive black holes as hidden sources of cosmic rays: Explaining the IceCube TeV-PeV neutrinos

Cosmic ray interactions that produce high-energy neutrinos also inevitably generate high-energy gamma rays, which finally contribute to the diffuse high-energy gamma-ray background after they escape the sources. It was recently found that, the high flux of neutrinos at

Energy spectrum and chemical composition of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays from semi-relativistic hypernovae

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Constraining the Emissivity of Ultrahigh Energy Cosmic Rays in the Distant Universe with the Diffuse Gamma-ray Emission

TeV detected by IceCube lead to a cumulative gamma-ray flux exceeding the Fermi isotropic gamma-ray background at 10-100 GeV, implying that the neutrinos are produced by hidden sources of cosmic rays, where GeV-TeV gamma-rays are not transparent. Here we suggest that relativistic jets in tidal disruption events (TDEs) of supermassive black holes are such hidden sources. We consider the jet propagation in an extended,optically thick envelope around the black hole, which is resulted from the ejected material during the disruption. While powerful jets can break free from the envelope, less powerful jets would be choked inside the envelope. The jets accelerate cosmic rays through internal shocks or reverse shocks and further produce neutrinos via interaction with the surrounding dense medium or photons. All three TDE jets discovered so far are not detected by Fermi/LAT, suggesting that GeV-TeV gamma-rays are absorbed in these jets. The cumulative neutrino flux from TDE jets can account for the neutrino flux observed by IceCube at PeV energies and may also account for the higher flux at

THE FIRST DETECTION OF GeV EMISSION FROM AN ULTRALUMINOUS INFRARED GALAXY: Arp 220 AS SEEN WITH THE FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE

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