Bright gamma-ray flares observed in GRB131108A

TL;DR

This paper reports the detection and analysis of three bright gamma-ray flares in GRB 131108A, revealing their properties, relation to X-ray flares, and providing observational evidence of high-latitude emission in the GeV band.

Contribution

First detailed analysis of multiple bright gamma-ray flares in a GRB, demonstrating their similarity to X-ray flares and confirming high-latitude emission in GeV energies.

Findings

Three gamma-ray flares are 6-20 times brighter than underlying emission.

Flares' fluence is comparable to the steep decay emission.

Temporal and spectral indices support the curvature effect hypothesis.

Abstract

GRB 131108A is a bright long Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) detected by the Large Area Telescope and the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. Dedicated temporal and spectral analyses reveal three $\gamma$-ray flares dominating above 100 MeV, which are not directly related to the prompt emission in the GBM band (10 keV - 10 MeV). The high-energy light curve of GRB 131108A (100 MeV - 10 GeV) shows an unusual evolution: a steep decay, followed by three flares with an underlying emission, and then a long-lasting decay phase. The detailed analysis of the $\gamma$-ray flares finds that the three flares are 6 - 20 times brighter than the underlying emission and are similar to each other. The fluence of each flare, (1.6 $\sim$ 2.0) $\times$ 10$^{-6}$ erg cm$^{-2}$, is comparable to that of emission during the steep decay phase, 1.7 $\times$ 10$^{-6}$ erg cm$^{-2}$. The total fluence from three $\gamma$-ray flares is 5.3 $\times$ 10$^{-6}$ erg cm$^{-2}$. The three $\gamma$-ray flares show properties similar to the usual X-ray flares that are sharp flux increases, occurring in $\sim$ 50\% of afterglows, in some cases well after the prompt emission. Also, the temporal and spectral indices during the early steep decay phase and the decaying phase of each flare show the consistency with a relation of the curvature effect ($\alpha$ = 2 + $\beta$), which is the first observational evidence of the high-latitude emission in the GeV energy band.