A $6.37\,{\rm Hz}$ quasi-periodic oscillating photospheric emission in GRB~240825A

TL;DR

This paper reports the first detection of a high-confidence quasi-periodic oscillation in the thermal emission of a gamma-ray burst, indicating a quasi-periodic oscillating jet and suggesting a helical jet structure.

Contribution

It presents the first detection of a QPO in the thermal photospheric emission of a GRB and links it to jet structure and variability.

Findings

Detection of a 6.37 Hz QPO in thermal emission

Identification of a 0.67 Hz QPO in non-thermal emission

QPO explained by a helical jet structure

Abstract

Using data from Swift-BAT and Fermi-GBM, we report the first detection of a high-confidence quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) in the thermal emission of gamma-ray burst GRB~240825A. The spectral analysis of the burst reveals two radiation components, including a thermal emission dominant in $100 \text{--} 300\,\mathrm{keV}$ and a non-thermal emission spanning a wide energy range. During the interval $2.07 \text{--} 3.25\,\mathrm{s}$ post-trigger, a strong QPO signal at $6.37\,\mathrm{Hz}$ ($\gtrsim 5\sigma$ confidence) is identified in the $100 \text{--} 300\,\mathrm{keV}$ thermal-dominated band. The variability analysis of the non-thermal component ($15 \text{--} 30\,\mathrm{keV}$) uncovered a $0.67\,\mathrm{Hz}$ QPO, consistent with light-curve modeling using periodic fast-rise exponential decay pulses. The strong QPO in the photospheric emission directly indicates a quasi-periodic oscillating jet. Together with the non-thermal emission variability, we show that this QPO can be explained in terms of a helical structure in the jet, where the viewing angle to the dominant emission region in the jet undergoes periodic changes.