Exploring Gamma-Ray Bursts, Their Immediate Environment and Host Galaxies

TL;DR

This paper investigates gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), their emission mechanisms, host galaxy environments, and their utility in studying interstellar dust and extinction, providing insights into their physical properties and cosmic significance.

Contribution

It offers a comprehensive analysis of GRB radiative processes, examines host galaxy characteristics through a case study, and explores their application in understanding interstellar dust and extinction.

Findings

Thermal emission parameters of GRBs are characterized.

Host galaxy properties are derived from GRB 121024A observations.

GRBs can be used to study interstellar dust and grey extinction.

Abstract

Lasting anywhere from a few milliseconds to several minutes, GRBs shine hundreds of times brighter than a typical supernova, making them briefly the brightest source of cosmic gamma-ray photons in the observable Universe. This thesis focuses on 3 different aspects of GRBs: (1) The radiative mechanism of GRBs and their afterglows, i.e. the occurrence of thermal emission and the physical parameters we can determine through this emission. (2) Their host galaxies, using results from observations of GRB 121024A as a case study. (3) How they can be used to answer some of the larger astrophysical questions, more specifically in this case, to study interstellar dust and grey extinction.