GRB 060607A: A GRB with Bright Asynchronous Early $X$-ray and Optical Emissions

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the early optical and X-ray emissions of GRB 060607A, revealing that the optical peak results from cooling of the prompt emission, with no direct correlation to initial gamma-ray flares.

Contribution

It demonstrates that the dominant early optical emission originates from the same tail emission as the prompt gamma-ray activity, modeled through relativistic shock synchrotron radiation.

Findings

Optical peak linked to cooling of prompt emission.

Early optical emission shows no correlation with gamma-ray flares.

X-ray break is not observed in optical/IR bands, indicating different origins.

Abstract

The early optical emission of the moderately high redshift ($z=3.08$) GRB 060607A shows a remarkable broad and strong peak with a rapid rise and a relatively slow power-law decay. It is not coincident with the strong early-time flares seen in the X-ray and gamma-ray energy bands. There is weak evidence for variability superposed on this dominant component in several optical bands that can be related to flares in high energy bands. While for a small number of GRBs, well-sampled optical flares have been observed simultaneously with X-ray and gamma ray pulses, GRB 060607A is one of the few cases where the early optical emission shows no significant evidence for correlation with the prompt emission. In this work we first report in detail the broad band observations of this burst by Swift. Then by applying a simple model for the dynamics and the synchrotron radiation of a relativistic shock, we show that the dominant component of the early emissions in optical wavelengths has the same origin as the tail emission produced after the main gamma ray activity. The most plausible explanation for the peak in the optical light curve seems to be the cooling of the prompt after the main collisions, shifting the characteristic synchrotron frequency to the optical bands. It seems that the cooling process requires a steepening of the electron energy distribution and/or a break in this distribution at high energies. The sharp break in the X-ray light curve at few thousands of seconds after the trigger, is not observed in the IR/optical/UV bands, and therefore can not be a jet break. Either the X-ray break is due to a change in the spectrum of the accelerated electrons or the lack of an optical break is due to the presence of a related delayed response component (Abbreviated).