Evidence for the transition from thermal to non-thermal emission in the prompt emission of GRB 161117A

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the spectral evolution of GRB 161117A, revealing a transition from thermal to non-thermal emission, indicating a change in jet composition and providing insights into the outflow's physical parameters and emission mechanisms.

Contribution

It presents the first detailed spectral evolution analysis of GRB 161117A, demonstrating a transition from thermal to non-thermal emission and inferring jet composition changes.

Findings

Spectral evolution shows transition from thermal to non-thermal emissions.

Jet composition changes from fireball to Poynting-flux-dominated.

Outflow parameters like Lorentz factor and magnetization are estimated.

Abstract

GRB 161117A is a long-duration GRB with three main overlapping peaks. By analyzing the time-resolved spectra of its data observed with the Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor (GBM) on board the Fermi mission, we find that the spectral evolution shows a transition from thermal (single BB) to hybrid (PL$+$BB), and finally to non-thermal (Band and CPL) emissions. Such a transition suggests that the jet composition of GRB 161117A should be changed from a fireball to a Poynting-flux-dominated jet. The bulk Lorentz factor ($\Gamma_{\rm ph}$), radii ($R_{\rm ph}$ and $R_{0}$), magnetization factor at the central engine ($\sigma_0$), and dimensionless entropy ($\eta$) of the outflow can be inferred by invoking the observed quasi-thermal component within two models (e.g., pure fireball and hybrid). It is found that $\Gamma_{\rm ph}$ seems to be tracking with the light curve, and $R_{0}$ remains a constant at $\sim$ $10^{8}$ cm. The low magnetization ($1+\sigma_0 \sim$ 1) and high dimensionless entropy ($\eta \gg$ 1) during the first seven time-intervals suggest to be a pure fireball outflow. Moreover, we also estimate the lower limit of magnetization parameter at the photosphere radius ($\sigma_{\rm ph}\sim 1.4$ and 0.75) for late phase via the non-thermal spectra, and it indicates that the particle acceleration mechanism is dominated by internal shocks rather than magnetic dissipation processes. Finally, the $\nu \bar{\nu}$ annihilation mechanism of NDAF model to explain the thermal emission of GRB 161117A is also discussed.