Imprints of Electron-positron Winds on the Multi-wavelength Afterglows of Gamma-ray Bursts

TL;DR

This paper proposes that electron-positron winds from newly born magnetars can cause optical re-brightenings and X-ray plateaus in gamma-ray burst afterglows, supported by analysis of four well-observed GRBs.

Contribution

It introduces a model linking magnetar winds to optical re-brightenings and X-ray features in GRB afterglows, providing a new interpretation of these phenomena.

Findings

Reverse shock from electron-positron wind explains optical re-brightenings.

Magnetar spin-down timescale correlates with re-brightening peak.

Model successfully interprets four observed GRB afterglows.

Abstract

Optical re-brightenings in the afterglows of some gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are unexpected within the framework of the simple external shock model. While it has been suggested that the central engines of some GRBs are newly born magnetars, we aim to relate the behaviors of magnetars to the optical re-brightenings. A newly born magnetar will lose its rotational energy in the form of Poynting-flux, which may be converted into a wind of electron-positron pairs through some magnetic dissipation processes. As proposed by Dai (2004), this wind will catch up with the GRB outflow and a long-lasting reverse shock would form. By applying this scenario to GRB afterglows, we find that the reverse shock propagating back into the electron-positron wind can lead to an observable optical re-brightening and a simultaneous X-ray plateau (or X-ray shallow decay). In our study, we select four GRBs, i.e., GRB 080413B, GRB 090426, GRB 091029, and GRB 100814A, of which the optical afterglows are well observed and show clear re-brightenings. We find that they can be well interpreted. In our scenario, the spin-down timescale of the magnetar should be slightly smaller than the peak time of the re-brightening, which can provide a clue to the characteristics of the magnetar.