A review of long lasting activities of the central engine of gamma-ray bursts

TL;DR

This review discusses the characteristics and possible origins of ultra-long gamma-ray bursts and plateau phases, highlighting their significance for understanding the central engine of gamma-ray bursts and future observational prospects.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of ultra-long GRBs and plateau phases, analyzing their properties and potential origins within the standard fireball model.

Findings

Ultra-long GRBs have extremely extended prompt emission durations.

Plateau phases are characterized by a steady, long-lasting afterglow period.

Future missions could provide new insights into these phenomena.

Abstract

Gamma-ray bursts are known to display various features on top of their canonical behavior. In this short review, we will describe and discuss two of them: the ultra-long gamma-ray bursts, which are defined by an extreme duration of their prompt phase, and the plateau phase, which is defined by a steady phase of large duration at the start of the afterglow. We will review the main properties of those two phenomena, and will discuss their possible origin, in light of the standard fireball model of gamma-ray bursts. A final section will discuss the future missions which could bring new evidences to the study of those objects.