Prompt GRB Polarization from Non-Axisymmetric Jets

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Gill, Ramandeep, Granot, Jonathan
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2023
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author Gill, Ramandeep
Granot, Jonathan
author_facet Gill, Ramandeep
Granot, Jonathan
contents Time-resolved linear polarization ($Π$) measurements of the prompt gamma-ray burst emission can reveal its dominant radiation mechanism. A widely considered mechanism is synchrotron radiation, for which linear polarization can be used to probe the jet's magnetic-field structure, and in turn its composition. In axisymmetric jet models the polarization angle (PA) can only change by $90^\circ$, as $Π$ temporarily vanishes. However, some time-resolved measurements find a continuously changing PA, which requires the flow to be non-axisymmetric in at least one out of its emissivity, bulk Lorentz factor or magnetic field. Here we consider synchrotron emission in non-axisymmetric jets, from an ultrarelativistic thin shell, comprising multiple radially-expanding mini-jets (MJs) or emissivity patches within the global jet, that yield a continuously changing PA. We explore a wide variety of possibilities with emission consisting of a single pulse or multiple overlapping pulses, presenting time-resolved and integrated polarization from different magnetic field configurations and jet angular structures. We find that emission from multiple incoherent MJs/patches reduces the net polarization due to partial cancellation in the Stokes plane. When these contain a large-scale ordered field in the plane transverse to the radial direction, $Π$ always starts near maximal and then declines over the single pulse or shows multiple highly polarized peaks due to multiple pulses. Observing $Π\lesssim40\%$ ($15\%$) integrated over one (several) pulse(s) will instead favor a shock-produced small-scale field either ordered in the radial direction or tangled in the plane transverse to it.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2310_01357
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Prompt GRB Polarization from Non-Axisymmetric Jets
Gill, Ramandeep
Granot, Jonathan
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Time-resolved linear polarization ($Π$) measurements of the prompt gamma-ray burst emission can reveal its dominant radiation mechanism. A widely considered mechanism is synchrotron radiation, for which linear polarization can be used to probe the jet's magnetic-field structure, and in turn its composition. In axisymmetric jet models the polarization angle (PA) can only change by $90^\circ$, as $Π$ temporarily vanishes. However, some time-resolved measurements find a continuously changing PA, which requires the flow to be non-axisymmetric in at least one out of its emissivity, bulk Lorentz factor or magnetic field. Here we consider synchrotron emission in non-axisymmetric jets, from an ultrarelativistic thin shell, comprising multiple radially-expanding mini-jets (MJs) or emissivity patches within the global jet, that yield a continuously changing PA. We explore a wide variety of possibilities with emission consisting of a single pulse or multiple overlapping pulses, presenting time-resolved and integrated polarization from different magnetic field configurations and jet angular structures. We find that emission from multiple incoherent MJs/patches reduces the net polarization due to partial cancellation in the Stokes plane. When these contain a large-scale ordered field in the plane transverse to the radial direction, $Π$ always starts near maximal and then declines over the single pulse or shows multiple highly polarized peaks due to multiple pulses. Observing $Π\lesssim40\%$ ($15\%$) integrated over one (several) pulse(s) will instead favor a shock-produced small-scale field either ordered in the radial direction or tangled in the plane transverse to it.
title Prompt GRB Polarization from Non-Axisymmetric Jets
topic High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2310.01357