Modelling synchrotron and synchrotron self-Compton emission of gamma-ray burst afterglows from radio to very-high energies

TL;DR

This paper models synchrotron and synchrotron self-Compton emission from gamma-ray burst afterglows across multiple wavelengths, fitting data from three bright GRBs to constrain environmental and emission parameters.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive SSC emission model fitting multiwavelength data of GRBs, distinguishing environmental types and explaining sub-TeV emissions with negligible gamma-gamma attenuation.

Findings

A constant density medium fits short GRB 090510 data.

A wind-type environment fits long GRBs 130427A and 190114C.

SSC emission explains the sub-TeV component in GRB 190114C.

Abstract

Synchrotron radiation from a decelerating blastwave is a widely accepted model of radio to X-ray afterglow emission from gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). GeV gamma-ray emission detected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) and the duration of which extends beyond the prompt gamma-ray emission phase, is also compatible with broad features of afterglow emission. We revisit the synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) emission model from a decelerating blastwave to fit multiwavelength data from three bright GRBs, namely GRB~190114C, GRB~130427A and GRB~090510. We constrain the afterglow model parameters using the simultaneous fit of the spectral energy distributions at different times and light curves at different frequencies for these bursts. We find that a constant density interstellar medium is favored for the short GRB~090510, while a wind-type environment is favored for the long GRB~130427A and GRB~190114C. The sub-TeV component in GRB~190114C detected by MAGIC is the SSC emission in our modelling. Furthermore we find that the SSC emission in the Thomson regime is adequate to fit the spectra and light curves of GRB~190114C. For the other two GRBs, lacking sub-TeV detection, the SSC emissions are also modeled in the Thomson regime. For the model parameters we have used, the $\gamma\gamma$ attenuation in the blastwave is negligible in the sub-TeV range compared to the redshift-dependent $\gamma\gamma$ attenuation in the extragalactic background light.