Fermi and Swift Observations of GRB 190114C: Tracing the Evolution of High-energy Emission from Prompt to Afterglow

Ajello M, Arimoto M, Axelsson M, Baldini L, Barbiellini G, Bastieri D, Bellazzini R, Berretta A, Bissaldi E, Blandford RD, Bonino R, Bottacini E, Bregeon J, Bruel P, Buehler R, Burns E, Buson S, Cameron RA, Caputo R, Caraveo PA, Cavazzuti E, Chen S, Chiaro G, Ciprini S, Cohen-Tanugi J, Costantin D, Cutini S, D'Ammando F, Deklotz M, Torre Luque PDL, Palma FD, Desai A, Lalla ND, Venere LD, Fana Dirirsa F, Fegan SJ, Franckowiak A, Fukazawa Y, Funk S, Fusco P, Gargano F, Gasparrini D, Giglietto N, Gill R, Giordano F, Giroletti M, Granot J, Green D, Grenier IA, Grondin MH, Guiriec S, Hays E, Horan D, Jóhannesson G, Kocevski D, Kovac'Evic' M, Kuss M, Larsson S, Latronico L, Lemoine-Goumard M, Li J, Liodakis I, Longo F, Loparco F, Lovellette MN, Lubrano P, Maldera S, Malyshev D, Manfreda A, Martí-Devesa G, Mazziotta MN, McEnery JE, Mereu I, Meyer M, Michelson PF, Mitthumsiri W, Mizuno T, Monzani ME, Moretti E, Morselli A, Moskalenko IV, Negro M, Nuss E, Omodei N, Orienti M, Orlando E, Palatiello M, Paliya VS, Paneque D, Pei Z, Persic M, Pesce-Rollins M, Petrosian V, Piron F, Poon H, Porter TA, Principe G, Racusin JL, Rain S, Rando R, Rani B, Razzano M, Razzaque S, Reimer A, Reimer O, Ryde F, Saz Parkinson PM, Serini D, Sgr C, Siskind EJ, Spandre G, Spinelli P, Tajima H, Takagi K, Takahashi MN, Tak D, Thayer JB, Thompson DJ, Torres DF, Troja E, Valverde J, Klaveren BV, Wood K, Yassine M, Zaharijas G, Mailyan B, Bhat PN, Briggs MS, Cleveland W, Giles M, Goldstein A, Hui M, Malacaria C, Preece R, Roberts OJ, Veres P, Wilson-Hodge C, Kienlin AV, Cenko SB, O'Brien P, Beardmore AP, Lien A, Osborne JP, Tohuvavohu A, D'Elia V, D'A A, Perri M, Gropp J, Klingler N, Capalbi M, Tagliaferri G, Stamatikos M, De Pasquale M (2020)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2020

Journal

Book Volume: 890

Article Number: 9

Journal Issue: 1

DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ab5b05

Abstract

We report on the observations of gamma-ray burst (GRB) 190114C by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory. The prompt gamma-ray emission was detected by the Fermi GRB Monitor (GBM), the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT), and the Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) and the long-lived afterglow emission was subsequently observed by the GBM, LAT, Swift X-ray Telescope (XRT), and Swift UV Optical Telescope. The early-time observations reveal multiple emission components that evolve independently, with a delayed power-law component that exhibits significant spectral attenuation above 40 MeV in the first few seconds of the burst. This power-law component transitions to a harder spectrum that is consistent with the afterglow emission observed by the XRT at later times. This afterglow component is clearly identifiable in the GBM and BAT light curves as a slowly fading emission component on which the rest of the prompt emission is superimposed. As a result, we are able to observe the transition from internal-shock- to external-shock-dominated emission. We find that the temporal and spectral evolution of the broadband afterglow emission can be well modeled as synchrotron emission from a forward shock propagating into a wind-like circumstellar environment. We estimate the initial bulk Lorentz factor using the observed high-energy spectral cutoff. Considering the onset of the afterglow component, we constrain the deceleration radius at which this forward shock begins to radiate in order to estimate the maximum synchrotron energy as a function of time. We find that even in the LAT energy range, there exist high-energy photons that are in tension with the theoretical maximum energy that can be achieved through synchrotron emission from a shock. These violations of the maximum synchrotron energy are further compounded by the detection of very high-energy (VHE) emission above 300 GeV by MAGIC concurrent with our observations. We conclude that the observations of VHE photons from GRB 190114C necessitates either an additional emission mechanism at very high energies that is hidden in the synchrotron component in the LAT energy range, an acceleration mechanism that imparts energy to the particles at a rate that is faster than the electron synchrotron energy-loss rate, or revisions of the fundamental assumptions used in estimating the maximum photon energy attainable through the synchrotron process.

Authors with CRIS profile

Involved external institutions

University of Bari Aldo Moro / Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro Italy (IT) National Institute for Astrophysics / Istituto Nazionale Astrofisica (INAF) Italy (IT) University of Pisa / Università di Pisa (UniPi) Italy (IT) Stanford National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC) United States (USA) (US) Hiroshima University Japan (JP) Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY Germany (DE) Kanazawa University / 金沢大学 Japan (JP) NYCB Real-Time Computing, Inc. United States (USA) (US) National Institute for Nuclear Physics / Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) Italy (IT) Science and Technology Institute United States (USA) (US) University of Toronto Canada (CA) Jacobs Technology, Inc. United States (USA) (US) Medizinische Universität Innsbruck Austria (AT) Max-Planck-Institut für Physik (Werner-Heisenberg-Institut, MPP) / Max Planck Institute for Physics Germany (DE) National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) United States (USA) (US) Istanbul University / İstanbul Üniversitesi Turkey (TR) Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics United States (USA) (US) Stellar Solutions, Inc. United States (USA) (US) Mahidol University / มหาวิทยาลัยมหิดล Thailand (TH) University of Padua / Universita degli Studi di Padova Italy (IT) University of Iceland (UI) / Háskóli Íslands Iceland (IS) Stockholm University / Stockholms universitet Sweden (SE) Università degli Studi di Perugia Italy (IT) Open University of Israel / האוניברסיטה הפתוחה Israel (IL) Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) United States (USA) (US) University of Johannesburg South Africa (ZA) Laboratoire Leprince-Ringuet (LLR) France (FR) University of Leicester United Kingdom (GB) University of Montpellier / Université Montpellier France (FR) University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) United States (USA) (US) Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg Germany (DE) Clemson University United States (USA) (US) Università degli Studi di Trieste Italy (IT) ASI Science Data Center (ASDC) Italy (IT) Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik (MPE) / Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics Germany (DE) Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) / Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona Spain (ES) Universities Space Research Association (USRA) United States (USA) (US) Centre d'Etudes Nucléaires de Bordeaux-Gradignan (CENBG) France (FR) Praxis, Inc. United States (USA) (US) Royal Institute of Technology / Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan (KTH) Sweden (SE) Italian Space Agency / Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI) Italy (IT) École Polytechnique - Université Paris-Saclay France (FR) U.S. Naval Research Laboratory United States (USA) (US)

How to cite

APA:

Ajello, M., Arimoto, M., Axelsson, M., Baldini, L., Barbiellini, G., Bastieri, D.,... De Pasquale, M. (2020). Fermi and Swift Observations of GRB 190114C: Tracing the Evolution of High-energy Emission from Prompt to Afterglow. Astrophysical Journal, 890(1). https://dx.doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ab5b05

MLA:

Ajello, M., et al. "Fermi and Swift Observations of GRB 190114C: Tracing the Evolution of High-energy Emission from Prompt to Afterglow." Astrophysical Journal 890.1 (2020).

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