Evolution of the polarization of the optical afterglow of the γ-ray burst GRB030329

Jochen Greiner; Sylvio Klose; Klaus Reinsch; Hans Martin Schmid; Re'Em Sari; Dieter H. Hartmann; Chryssa Kouveliotou; Arne Rau; Eliana Palazzi; Christian Straubmeier; Bringfried Stecklum; Sergej Zharikov; Gaghik Tovmassian; Otto Bärnbantner; Christoph Ries; Emmanuel Jehin; Arne Henden; Anlaug A. Kaas; Tommy Grav; Jens Hjorth; Holger Pedersen; Ralph A.M.J. Wijers; Andreas Kaufer; Hye Sook Park; Grant Williams; Olaf Reimer

doi:10.1038/nature02077

Evolution of the polarization of the optical afterglow of the γ-ray burst GRB030329

Jochen Greiner^*, Sylvio Klose, Klaus Reinsch, Hans Martin Schmid, Re'Em Sari, Dieter H. Hartmann, Chryssa Kouveliotou, Arne Rau, Eliana Palazzi, Christian Straubmeier, Bringfried Stecklum, Sergej Zharikov, Gaghik Tovmassian, Otto Bärnbantner, Christoph Ries, Emmanuel Jehin, Arne Henden, Anlaug A. Kaas, Tommy Grav, Jens HjorthHolger Pedersen, Ralph A.M.J. Wijers, Andreas Kaufer, Hye Sook Park, Grant Williams, Olaf Reimer

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

105 Scopus citations

Abstract

The association of a supernova with GRB030329 strongly supports the 'collapsar' model of γ-ray bursts, where a relativistic jet forms after the progenitor star collapses. Such jets cannot be spatially resolved because γ-ray bursts lie at cosmological distances; their existence is instead inferred from 'breaks' in the light curves of the afterglows, and from the theoretical desire to reduce the estimated total energy of the burst by proposing that most of it comes out in narrow beams. Temporal evolution of the polarization of the afterglows may provide independent evidence for the jet structure of the relativistic outflow. Small-level polarization (∼1-3 per cent) has been reported for a few bursts, but its temporal evolution has yet to be established. Here we report polarimetric observations of the afterglow of GRB030329. We establish the polarization light curve, detect sustained polarization at the per cent level, and find significant variability. The data imply that the afterglow magnetic field has a small coherence length and is mostly random, probably generated by turbulence, in contrast with the picture arising from the high polarization detected in the prompt γ-rays from GRB021206 (ref. 18).

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	157-159
Number of pages	3
Journal	Nature
Volume	426
Issue number	6963
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02077
State	Published - 13 Nov 2003
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Acknowledgements GRB research at Caltech is supported in part by NSF and NASA. We are indebted to S. Barthelmy and the GCN. The VLA is operated by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc. The Australia Telescope is funded by the Commonwealth of Australia for operations as a National Facility managed by CSIRO. The Ryle Telescope is supported by PPARC.

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Greiner, J., Klose, S., Reinsch, K., Schmid, H. M., Sari, RE., Hartmann, D. H., Kouveliotou, C., Rau, A., Palazzi, E., Straubmeier, C., Stecklum, B., Zharikov, S., Tovmassian, G., Bärnbantner, O., Ries, C., Jehin, E., Henden, A., Kaas, A. A., Grav, T., ... Reimer, O. (2003). Evolution of the polarization of the optical afterglow of the γ-ray burst GRB030329. Nature, 426(6963), 157-159. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02077

@article{835be68376394f5aa4d9a817c7ff9c8d,

title = "Evolution of the polarization of the optical afterglow of the γ-ray burst GRB030329",

abstract = "The association of a supernova with GRB030329 strongly supports the 'collapsar' model of γ-ray bursts, where a relativistic jet forms after the progenitor star collapses. Such jets cannot be spatially resolved because γ-ray bursts lie at cosmological distances; their existence is instead inferred from 'breaks' in the light curves of the afterglows, and from the theoretical desire to reduce the estimated total energy of the burst by proposing that most of it comes out in narrow beams. Temporal evolution of the polarization of the afterglows may provide independent evidence for the jet structure of the relativistic outflow. Small-level polarization (∼1-3 per cent) has been reported for a few bursts, but its temporal evolution has yet to be established. Here we report polarimetric observations of the afterglow of GRB030329. We establish the polarization light curve, detect sustained polarization at the per cent level, and find significant variability. The data imply that the afterglow magnetic field has a small coherence length and is mostly random, probably generated by turbulence, in contrast with the picture arising from the high polarization detected in the prompt γ-rays from GRB021206 (ref. 18).",

author = "Jochen Greiner and Sylvio Klose and Klaus Reinsch and Schmid, {Hans Martin} and Re'Em Sari and Hartmann, {Dieter H.} and Chryssa Kouveliotou and Arne Rau and Eliana Palazzi and Christian Straubmeier and Bringfried Stecklum and Sergej Zharikov and Gaghik Tovmassian and Otto B{\"a}rnbantner and Christoph Ries and Emmanuel Jehin and Arne Henden and Kaas, {Anlaug A.} and Tommy Grav and Jens Hjorth and Holger Pedersen and Wijers, {Ralph A.M.J.} and Andreas Kaufer and Park, {Hye Sook} and Grant Williams and Olaf Reimer",

note = "Funding Information: Acknowledgements GRB research at Caltech is supported in part by NSF and NASA. We are indebted to S. Barthelmy and the GCN. The VLA is operated by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc. The Australia Telescope is funded by the Commonwealth of Australia for operations as a National Facility managed by CSIRO. The Ryle Telescope is supported by PPARC.",

year = "2003",

month = nov,

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doi = "10.1038/nature02077",

language = "אנגלית",

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Greiner, J, Klose, S, Reinsch, K, Schmid, HM, Sari, RE, Hartmann, DH, Kouveliotou, C, Rau, A, Palazzi, E, Straubmeier, C, Stecklum, B, Zharikov, S, Tovmassian, G, Bärnbantner, O, Ries, C, Jehin, E, Henden, A, Kaas, AA, Grav, T, Hjorth, J, Pedersen, H, Wijers, RAMJ, Kaufer, A, Park, HS, Williams, G & Reimer, O 2003, 'Evolution of the polarization of the optical afterglow of the γ-ray burst GRB030329', Nature, vol. 426, no. 6963, pp. 157-159. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02077

TY - JOUR

T1 - Evolution of the polarization of the optical afterglow of the γ-ray burst GRB030329

AU - Greiner, Jochen

AU - Klose, Sylvio

AU - Reinsch, Klaus

AU - Schmid, Hans Martin

AU - Sari, Re'Em

AU - Hartmann, Dieter H.

AU - Kouveliotou, Chryssa

AU - Rau, Arne

AU - Palazzi, Eliana

AU - Straubmeier, Christian

AU - Stecklum, Bringfried

AU - Zharikov, Sergej

AU - Tovmassian, Gaghik

AU - Bärnbantner, Otto

AU - Ries, Christoph

AU - Jehin, Emmanuel

AU - Henden, Arne

AU - Kaas, Anlaug A.

AU - Grav, Tommy

AU - Hjorth, Jens

AU - Pedersen, Holger

AU - Wijers, Ralph A.M.J.

AU - Kaufer, Andreas

AU - Park, Hye Sook

AU - Williams, Grant

AU - Reimer, Olaf

N1 - Funding Information: Acknowledgements GRB research at Caltech is supported in part by NSF and NASA. We are indebted to S. Barthelmy and the GCN. The VLA is operated by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc. The Australia Telescope is funded by the Commonwealth of Australia for operations as a National Facility managed by CSIRO. The Ryle Telescope is supported by PPARC.

PY - 2003/11/13

Y1 - 2003/11/13

N2 - The association of a supernova with GRB030329 strongly supports the 'collapsar' model of γ-ray bursts, where a relativistic jet forms after the progenitor star collapses. Such jets cannot be spatially resolved because γ-ray bursts lie at cosmological distances; their existence is instead inferred from 'breaks' in the light curves of the afterglows, and from the theoretical desire to reduce the estimated total energy of the burst by proposing that most of it comes out in narrow beams. Temporal evolution of the polarization of the afterglows may provide independent evidence for the jet structure of the relativistic outflow. Small-level polarization (∼1-3 per cent) has been reported for a few bursts, but its temporal evolution has yet to be established. Here we report polarimetric observations of the afterglow of GRB030329. We establish the polarization light curve, detect sustained polarization at the per cent level, and find significant variability. The data imply that the afterglow magnetic field has a small coherence length and is mostly random, probably generated by turbulence, in contrast with the picture arising from the high polarization detected in the prompt γ-rays from GRB021206 (ref. 18).

AB - The association of a supernova with GRB030329 strongly supports the 'collapsar' model of γ-ray bursts, where a relativistic jet forms after the progenitor star collapses. Such jets cannot be spatially resolved because γ-ray bursts lie at cosmological distances; their existence is instead inferred from 'breaks' in the light curves of the afterglows, and from the theoretical desire to reduce the estimated total energy of the burst by proposing that most of it comes out in narrow beams. Temporal evolution of the polarization of the afterglows may provide independent evidence for the jet structure of the relativistic outflow. Small-level polarization (∼1-3 per cent) has been reported for a few bursts, but its temporal evolution has yet to be established. Here we report polarimetric observations of the afterglow of GRB030329. We establish the polarization light curve, detect sustained polarization at the per cent level, and find significant variability. The data imply that the afterglow magnetic field has a small coherence length and is mostly random, probably generated by turbulence, in contrast with the picture arising from the high polarization detected in the prompt γ-rays from GRB021206 (ref. 18).

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ER -

Evolution of the polarization of the optical afterglow of the γ-ray burst GRB030329

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