GRB060218 and GRBs associated with Supernovae Ib/c

TL;DR

This paper models the complete light curves of GRB060218, a gamma-ray burst associated with a supernova, revealing a low-energy event with baryon loading, a fragmented circum-burst medium, and consistency with a canonical GRB within their theoretical framework.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed fit of GRB060218's light curves using a fireshell model, highlighting a fragmented circum-burst medium and low energetics, and provides the first evidence of fireshell fragmentation.

Findings

Low total energy similar to other SNe-associated GRBs

Observation of baryon loading at the stability limit

Radial dependence of circum-burst medium density

Abstract

We plan to fit the complete gamma- and X-ray light curves of the long duration GRB060218, including the prompt emission, in order to clarify the nature of the progenitors and the astrophysical scenario of the class of GRBs associated to SNe Ib/c. The initial total energy of the electron-positron plasma E_{e^\pm}^{tot}=2.32\times 10^{50} erg has a particularly low value similarly to the other GRBs associated with SNe. For the first time we observe a baryon loading B=10^{-2} which coincides with the upper limit for the dynamical stability of the fireshell. The effective CircumBurst Medium (CBM) density shows a radial dependence n_{cbm} \propto r^{-\alpha} with 1.0<\alpha<1.7 and monotonically decreases from 1 to 10^{-6} particles/cm^3. Such a behavior is interpreted as due to a fragmentation in the fireshell. Analogies with the fragmented density and filling factor characterizing Novae are outlined. The fit presented is particularly significant in view of the complete data set available for GRB060218 and of the fact that it fulfills the Amati relation. We fit GRB060218, usually considered as an X-Ray Flash (XRF), as a "canonical GRB" within our theoretical model. The smallest possible black hole, formed by the gravitational collapse of a neutron star in a binary system, is consistent with the especially low energetics of the class of GRBs associated with SNe Ib/c. We give the first evidence for a fragmentation in the fireshell. Such a fragmentation is crucial in explaining both the unusually large T_{90} and the consequently inferred abnormal low value of the CBM effective density.