On explaining prompt emission from GRB central engines with photospheric emission model

TL;DR

This paper models gamma-ray burst prompt emission spectra through photospheric emission, demonstrating that relativistic electrons and high photon-to-particle ratios can reproduce observed spectra.

Contribution

It introduces a realistic Monte Carlo simulation of GRB photospheric emission with high photon-to-particle ratios and episodic dissipation, advancing understanding of the radiation mechanism.

Findings

Successful modeling of GRB spectra with relativistic electrons (Lorentz factor 50-100)

Spectral shape is independent of initial photon energy and baryonic content

Emission mechanism is robust across different initial conditions

Abstract

Although the observed spectra for gamma-ray burst (GRB) prompt emission is well constrained, the underlying radiation mechanism is still not very well understood. We explore photospheric emission in GRB jets by modelling the Comptonization of fast cooled synchrotron photons whilst the electrons and protons are accelerated to highly relativistic energies by repeated energy dissipation events as well as Coulomb collisions. In contrast to the previous simulations, we implement realistic photon-to-particle number ratios of $N_{\gamma}/N_e \sim 10^{5}$ or higher, that are consistent with the observed radiation efficiency of relativistic jets. Using our Monte Carlo radiation transfer (MCRaT) code, we can successfully model the prompt emission spectra when the electrons are momentarily accelerated to highly relativistic energies (Lorentz factor $\sim 50-100$) after getting powered by $\sim30-50$ episodic dissipation events in addition to their Coulomb coupling with the jet protons, and for baryonic outflows that originate from moderate optical depths $\sim20-30$. We also show that the resultant shape of the photon spectrum is practically independent of the initial photon energy distribution and the jet baryonic energy content, and hence independent of the emission mechanism.