Very Bright Prompt and Reverse Shock Emission of GRB 140512A

TL;DR

This paper reports detailed multi-wavelength observations of GRB 140512A, highlighting its bright optical and reverse shock emissions, and derives physical properties indicating high magnetization in the reverse shock region.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed analysis of the bright optical and reverse shock emissions of GRB 140512A, including physical parameter estimation and comparison with other GRBs.

Findings

The optical-X-ray-gamma-ray spectrum fits a single power-law during prompt emission.

The optical afterglow is consistent with reverse and forward shock models.

The reverse shock region shows a high magnetization degree with R_B=8187.

Abstract

We report our observations of very bright prompt optical and reverse shock (RS) optical emission of GRB 140512A and analyze its multi-wavelength data observed with the {\em Swift} and {\em Fermi} missions. It is found that the joint optical-X-ray-gamma-ray spectrum with our first optical detection (R=13.09 mag) at $T_0+136$ seconds during the second episode of the prompt gamma-rays can be fit by a single power-law with index $-1.32\pm 0.01$. Our empirical fit to the afterglow lightcurves indicates that the observed bright optical afterglow with R=13.00 mag at the peak time is consistent with predictions of the RS and forward shock (FS) emission of external shock models. Joint optical-X-ray afterglow spectrum is well fit with an absorbed single power-law, with an index evolving with time from $-1.86\pm 0.01$ at the peak time to $-1.57\pm 0.01$ at late epoch, which could be due to the evolution of the ratio of the RS to FS emission fluxes. We fit the lightcurves with standard external models, and derive the physical properties of the outflow. It is found that the ratio $R_B\equiv\epsilon_{\rm B, r}/\epsilon_{\rm B, f}$ is 8187, indicating a high magnetization degree in the RS region. Measuring the relative radiation efficiency with $R_e\equiv\epsilon_{\rm e, r}/\epsilon_{\rm e, f}$, we have $R_e= 0.02$, implying the radiation efficiency of the RS is much lower than that in FS. We also show that the $R_B$ of GRBs 990123, 090102, and 130427A are similar to that of GRB 140512A and their apparent difference may be mainly attributed to the difference of the jet kinetic energy, initial Lorentz factor, and medium density among them.