Critical Tests of Leading Gamma Ray Burst Theories II

TL;DR

This paper critically reviews observational tests of leading gamma ray burst models, emphasizing the importance of falsifiable predictions and confronting them with data to assess model validity.

Contribution

It provides a systematic review of key observational tests of GRB models, highlighting the need for falsifiable predictions to validate theoretical frameworks.

Findings

Highlights the importance of falsifiable predictions in testing GRB models

Reviews observational data confronting fireball and cannonball models

Emphasizes the limitations of models with adjustable parameters

Abstract

It has been observationally established that supernovae (SNe) of Type Ic produce long duration gamma ray bursts (GRBs) and that neutron star mergers generate short hard GRBs. SN-Less GRBs presumably originate in a phase transition of a neutron star in a high mass X-ray binary. How these phenomena actually generate GRBs is debated. The fireball and cannonball models of GRBs and their afterglows have been widely confronted with the huge observational data, with their defenders claiming success. The claims, however, may reflect multiple choices and the use of many adjustable parameters, rather than the validity of the models. Only a confrontation of key falsifiable predictions of the models with solid observational data can test their validity. Such critical tests are reviewed in this report.