On the Implications of Late Internal Dissipation for Shallow-Decay Afterglow Emission and Associated High-Energy Gamma-Ray Signals

TL;DR

This paper explores how late internal dissipation in gamma-ray bursts can explain shallow X-ray afterglows and predicts high-energy gamma-ray signals, emphasizing the importance of multi-wavelength observations for testing these models.

Contribution

It introduces detailed modeling of late internal dissipation scenarios, including external inverse-Compton emission, and predicts observable high-energy gamma-ray signals.

Findings

EIC emission peaks at 1-100 GeV, potentially dominating SSC components.

High-energy gamma rays from late dissipation are detectable with current/future Cherenkov telescopes.

Multi-wavelength observations can effectively test the late internal dissipation model.

Abstract

The origin of the shallow-decay emission during early X-ray afterglows has been an open issue since the launch of the Swift satellite. One of the appealing models is the late internal dissipation model, where X-ray emission during the shallow-decay phase is attributed to internal dissipation, analogous to the prompt gamma-ray emission. We discuss possible scenarios of the late prompt emission, such as late internal shocks, magnetic reconnection, and photospheric dissipation. We also consider the consequences of late dissipation and a two-component (early and late) jet model for the high-energy (GeV-TeV) emission. We study not only synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) emission from the early and late jets but also external inverse-Compton (EIC) emission, which is naturally predicted in the late dissipation model. For the latter, we perform numerical calculations taking into account the equal-arrival-time surface of EIC photons and show that the EIC component typically has a peak at ~1-100 GeV which may dominate over the SSC components. We demonstrate that very high energy gamma rays from both these components are detectable for nearby and/or energetic gamma-ray bursts, with current and future Cherenkov detectors such as MAGIC, VERITAS, CTA and HAWC, and possibly Fermi. Although the expected event rate would not be large, detections should be useful as a test of the model. Multi-wavelength observations using both the ground-based telescopes and the Swift and/or Fermi satellites are also important to constrain the models.