The long-short GRB connection

TL;DR

This paper proposes a unified evolutionary framework explaining both long and short gamma-ray bursts through the binary-driven hypernova model, challenging the traditional view of their unrelated origins.

Contribution

It introduces a model that links long and short GRBs, explaining their properties as part of a common evolutionary process rather than separate phenomena.

Findings

Long and short GRBs can be explained by the binary-driven hypernova model.

The association with supernovae and galactic offsets are consistent with a shared origin.

The model suggests an evolutionary connection between the two GRB types.

Abstract

Long and short gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are thought to arise from different and unrelated astrophysical progenitors. The association of long GRBs with supernovae (SNe) and the difference in the distributions of galactocentric offsets of long and short GRBs within their host galaxies have often been considered strong evidence of their unrelated origins. Long GRBs have been thought to result from the collapse of single massive stars, while short GRBs come from mergers of compact object binaries. Our present study challenges this conventional view. We demonstrate that the observational properties, such as the association with SNe and the different galactic offsets, are naturally explained within the framework of the binary-driven hypernova model, suggesting an evolutionary connection between long and short GRBs.