A detailed analysis of the GBM/Fermi experiment data is carried out to classify GRB 200415A. It is shown that, on the one hand, this event exhibits typical for type I (short) gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) properties, such as duration, variability, and the character of spectral evolution (lag). On the other hand, the localization of the event source on the celestial plane, obtained by the triangulation method (IPN), indicates the nearby ($ D_L $ = 3.5 Mpc) galaxy NGC 253 (Sculptor) as a possible host galaxy for this burst. It introduces significant restrictions on the energetics of the event ($ E_{iso} $ $ \sim $ $ 10^{46} $ erg) and gives an alternative interpretation of GRB 200415A as a giant flare (GF) of a soft gamma repeater (SGR). This interpretation is supported by the atypically hard energy spectrum. In addition, according to the position of the burst on the $ E_{p, i} $ -- $ E_{iso} $ (the position of the maximum in the energy spectrum $ νF_ν $ in the source frame depending on the isotropic equivalent of the total energy, emitted in gamma rays) and $ T_{90, i} $ -- $ EH $ (duration in the source frame depending on the combination of parameters $ EH = E_{p,i,2} ~ E_{iso,51}^{ ~ -0.4} $) diagrams, GRB 200415A is unambiguously classified as a giant flare of a magnetar, assuming its association with the galaxy NGC 253. In these diagrams, known giant flares in the Galaxy and candidates for giant flares in nearby galaxies form a well-defined group, which includes the GRB 200415A.
We consider a magnetar flare model for fast radio bursts (FRBs). We show that millisecond burst of sufficient power can be generated by synchrotron maser emission ignited at the reverse shock propagating through the weakly magnetized material that forms the magnetar flare. If the maser emission is generated in an anisotropic regime (due to the geometry of the production region or presence of an intense external source of stimulating photons) the duration of the maser flashes is similar to the magnetar flare duration even if the shock front radius is large. Our scenario allows relaxing the requ…
Millisecond magnetars are often invoked as the central engine of some gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), specifically the ones showing a plateau phase. We argue that an apparent plateau phase may not be realized if the magnetic field of the nascent magnetar is in a transient rapid decay stage. Some GRBs that lack a clear plateau phase may also be hosting millisecond magnetars. We present an approximate analytical solution of the coupled set of equations describing the evolution of the angular velocity and the inclination angle between rotation and magnetic axis of a neutron star in the presence of a co-…
We present late-time optical follow-up observations of GRB 171010A/SN 2017htp ($z$ = 0.33) and low-luminosity GRB 171205A/SN 2017iuk ($z$ = 0.037) acquired using the 4K$\times$4K CCD Imager mounted at the 3.6m Devasthal Optical Telescope (3.6m DOT) along with the prompt emission data analysis of these two interesting bursts. The prompt characteristics (other than brightness) such as spectral hardness, T$_{90}$, and minimum variability time-scale are comparable for both the bursts. The isotropic $X$-ray and kinetic energies of the plateau phase of GRB 171205A are found to be less than the maxim…
The unusual multiwavelength lightcurves of GRB 101225A are revisited by assuming that it is from an off-axis GRB powered by a newborn magnetar. We show that its optical afterglow lightcurve is fitted with the forward shock model by parameterizing its jet structure as a Gaussian function with a half opening angle of the jet core as $1.67^{\rm o}$. The derived initial Lorentz factor ($Γ_0$) is 120, and the viewing angle to the jet axis is $θ_v=3.7^{\rm o}$. Tentative QPO signatures of $P=488$ seconds and $P=250\sim 300$ seconds are found with a confidence level of 90\% by analysing its X-ray fla…
The central engine of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) remains an open and forefront topic in the era of multimessenger astrophysics. The X-ray plateaus appear in some GRB afterglows, which are widely considered to originate from the spindown of magnetars. According to the stable magnetar scenario of GRBs, an X-ray plateau and a decay phase as $\sim t^{-2}$ should appear in X-ray afterglows. Meanwhile, the ``normal'' X-ray afterglow is produced by the external shock from GRB fireball. We analyze the Neil Gehrels \emph{Swift} GRB data, then find three gold samples, which have an X-ray plateau and a deca…
Magnetars, a population of isolated neutron stars with ultra-strong magnetic fields of $\sim 10^{14}-10^{15}$ G, have been increasingly accepted to explain a variety of astrophysical transients. A nascent millisecond-period magnetar can release its spin-down energy and power bright sources such as Gamma-ray Bursts (GRBs) and their subsequent X-ray plateaus, Super Luminous Supernovae (SLSNe), and the fast X-ray transients such as CDF-S XT-2. Magnetars with ages of $10^3-10^4$ years have been observed within the Milky Way Galaxy, which are found to power diverse transients with the expense of th…
Soft gamma-ray repeaters (SGRs) are mainly a Galactic population and originate from neutron stars with intense ($B\simeq 10^{15}{\rm \ G}$) magnetic fields ('magnetars'). Occasionally, a giant flare occurs with enormous intensity, displaying a short hard spike, followed by a weaker, oscillatory phase which exhibits the rotational period of the neutron star. If the magnetar giant flares occur in nearby galaxies, they would appear as cosmic short-hard gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) without detecting the weak oscillatory phase. Recently, a short-hard GRB named GRB 200415A was detected, with a position c…
GRB 080503 late afterglow re-brightening: signature of a magnetar powered merger-nova
GRB 080503是一个由\emph{Swift}探测到的短伽马射线暴（GRB），被归类为致密恒星合并源GRB。在X射线和光学余辉光变曲线中的软扩展发射和同时的后期再增亮引起了关于其物理起源的有趣问题。我们发现，GRB 080503的宽带数据可以很好地解释在双中子星合并模型的框架内，提供的合并残余物是一个快速旋转的大质量中子星具有极高的磁场（即毫秒磁星）。我们表明，后期的光学再增亮是一致的发射从磁星供电的“合并新星”。这为与短伽玛暴相关的并合新星的不断增长的样本又增加了一个案例。软扩展发射和晚期X射线过量发射通过磁星偶极自旋下降光度演化函数很好地联系在一起，表明直接磁耗散是产生这些X射线的机制。X射线辐射最初是从被短伽玛射线暴喷流刺穿的合并喷出物中的一个洞泄漏出来的。在磁星向下旋转并且磁压力下降到冲压压力以下之后，孔随后关闭。然后X射线光子被捕获在合并新星喷出物的后面，直到喷出物在稍后的时间变得光学薄。这解释了光学和X射线光变曲线中基本上同时发生的再增亮。在这个模型中，未来的引力波源可能与一个明亮的X射线对应物以及合并新星相关联，即使短的伽马射线暴喷流远离地球。
The X-ray flares have usually been ascribed to long-lasting activities of the central engine of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), e.g., fallback accretion. The GRB X-ray plateaus, however, favor a millisecond magnetar central engine. The fallback accretion can be significantly suppressed due to the propeller effect of a magnetar. Therefore, if the propeller regime cannot resist the mass flow onto the surface of the magnetar efficiently, the X-ray flares raise upon the magnetar plateau would be hinted. In this work, such peculiar cases are connected to the accretion process of a magnetar, and an implica…
Diverse Morphologies of GRB X-Ray Plateaus within a Common Magnetar Framework
Nanjing University（南京大学）；Guangxi University（广西大学）；Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology（南京信息工程大学）；Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory, CAS（中国科学院新疆天文台）；Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院紫金山天文台）
The observed early X-ray plateau in the afterglow lightcurves of some gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) is attributed to the dipole radiations (DRs) of a newborn magnetar. A quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) signal in the plateau would be strong evidence of the magnetar precession motion. By making a time-frequency domain analysis for the X-ray afterglow lightcurve of GRB 180620A, we find a QPO signal of $\sim650$ seconds in its early X-ray plateau. We fit the lightcurve with a magnetar precession model by adopting the Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm. The observed lightcurve and the QPO signal are wel…
GRB200522A is a short duration gamma-ray burst (GRB) at redshift $z$=0.554 characterized by a bright infrared counterpart. A possible, although not unambiguous, interpretation of the observed emission is the onset of a luminous kilonova powered by a rapidly rotating and highly-magnetized neutron star, known as magnetar. A bright radio flare, arising from the interaction of the kilonova ejecta with the surrounding medium, is a prediction of this model. Whereas the available dataset remains open to multiple interpretations (e.g. afterglow, r-process kilonova, magnetar-powered kilonova), long-ter…
Magnetars, the likely sources of Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs), produce both steady highly relativistic magnetized winds, and occasional ejection events. We demonstrate that the requirement of conservation of the magnetic flux dominates the overall dynamics of magnetic explosions. This is missed in conventional hydrodynamic models of the ejections as expanding shell with parametrically added magnetic field, as well as one-dimensional models of magnetic disturbances. Most of the initial free energy of an explosion is actually spent on stretching its own internal magnetic field, while doing minimal $…
A millisecond magnetar engine has been widely suggested to exist in gamma-ray burst (GRB) phenomena, in view of its substantial influences on the GRB afterglow emission. In this paper, we investigate the effects of the magnetar engine on the supernova (SN) emission which is associated with long GRBs and, specifically, confront the model with the observational data of SN 2006aj/GRB 060218. SN 2006aj is featured by its remarkable double-peaked ultraviolet-optical (UV-opt) light curves. By fitting these light curves, we demonstrate that the first peak can be well accounted for by the breakout emi…
The giant flares of soft gamma-ray repeaters (SGRs) have long been proposed to contribute to at least a subsample of the observed short gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). In this paper, we perform a comprehensive analysis of the high-energy data of the recent bright short GRB 200415A, which was located close to the Sculptor galaxy. Our results suggest that a magnetar giant flare provides the most natural explanation for most observational properties of GRB 200415A, including its location, temporal and spectral features, energy, statistical correlations, and high-energy emissions. On the other hand, the …
Magnetars are young, highly magnetized neutron stars that produce extremely rare giant flares of gamma-rays, the most luminous astrophysical phenomena in our Galaxy. The detection of these flares from outside the Local Group of galaxies has been predicted, with just two candidates so far. Here we report on the extremely bright gamma-ray flare GRB 200415A of April 15, 2020, which we localize, using the Interplanetary Network, to a tiny (20 sq. arcmin) area on the celestial sphere, that overlaps the central region of the Sculptor galaxy at 3.5 Mpc from the Milky Way. From the Konus-Wind detectio…
Magnetars are neutron stars with exceptionally strong dipole magnetic fields which are observed to display a range of x-ray flaring behavior, but the flaring mechanism is not well understood. The third observing run of Advanced LIGO and Virgo extended from April 1, 2019 to March 27, 2020, and contained x-ray flares from known magnetar SGR 1935+2154, as well as the newly-discovered magnetar, Swift J1818-1607. We search for gravitational waves coincident with these magnetar flares with minimally modeled, coherent searches which specifically target both short-duration gravitational waves produced…
Magnetic-distortion-induced ellipticity and gravitational wave radiation of neutron stars: millisecond magnetars in short GRBs, Galactic pulsars, and magnetars
中子星由于磁畸变而可能产生非轴对称形变，是地基干涉测量探测器的连续引力波（GW）源。经过几十年的搜索，使用现有的GW探测器，没有证据表明GW信号来自任何脉冲星。椭圆率的上限越来越严格地限制在银河系的恒星上。在这项工作中，我们使用的椭圆率推断从假定的毫秒磁星在短伽马射线暴（SGRB），以估计其可探测性目前和未来的GW探测器。对于从SGRB数据推断的$\sim 1$ ms磁星，高级LIGO（aLIGO）和爱因斯坦望远镜（ET）的探测视界分别为$\sim 30$ Mpc和$\sim 600$ Mpc。利用SGRB毫秒磁星的椭圆率作为刻度，在假设椭圆率是磁畸变引起的情况下，我们估算了银河系中的毫秒磁星和磁星的椭圆率和引力波应变。我们发现，该结果与aLIGO O 1对银河系恒星和磁星的零探测结果是一致的。我们进一步预测，GW信号从这些恒星/磁星可能无法检测到目前设计的aLIGO探测器。ET检测器可能能够检测来自这些天线中的一些天线的一些相对低频的信号（$<50$ Hz）。受其设计灵敏度的限制，eLISA探测器似乎不适合探测来自银河系恒星和磁星的信号。
