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Gamma-Ray Bursts in the Swift Era

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TLDR
In this article, the authors review the rapid observational and theoretical progress in this dynamical research field during the first two-year of the Swift mission, focusing on how observational breakthroughs have revolutionized our understanding of the physical origins of GRBs.
Abstract
Since the successful launch of NASA's dedicated gamma-ray burst (GRB) mission, Swift, the study of cosmological GRBs has entered a new era. Here I review the rapid observational and theoretical progress in this dynamical research field during the first two-year of the Swift mission, focusing on how observational breakthroughs have revolutionized our understanding of the physical origins of GRBs. Besides summarizing how Swift helps to solve some pre-Swift mysteries, I also list some outstanding problems raised by the Swift observations. An outlook of GRB science in the future, especially in the GLAST era, is briefly discussed.

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Dark Energy

TL;DR: A survey of theoretical models and some aspects of numerical studies for dark energy can be found in this paper, where the authors review the problem of dark energy, including a survey of the theoretical models.
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The physics of gamma-ray bursts & relativistic jets

TL;DR: A comprehensive review of major developments in our understanding of gamma-ray bursts, with particular focus on the discoveries made within the last fifteen years when their true nature was uncovered, can be found in this paper.
Journal ArticleDOI

The Physics of Gamma-Ray Bursts and Relativistic Jets

TL;DR: A comprehensive review of major developments in the understanding of gamma-ray bursts can be found in this article, with particular focus on the discoveries made within the last fifteen years when their true nature was uncovered.
Journal ArticleDOI

The strongest cosmic magnets: soft gamma-ray repeaters and anomalous X-ray pulsars

Abstract: Two classes of X-ray pulsars, the anomalous X-ray pulsars and the soft gamma-ray repeaters, have been recognized in the last decade as the most promising candidates for being magnetars: isolated neutron stars powered by magnetic energy. I review the observational properties of these objects, focussing on the most recent results, and their interpretation in the magnetar model. Alternative explanations, in particular those based on accretion from residual disks, are also considered. The possible relations between these sources and other classes of neutron stars and astrophysical objects are also discussed.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI

Short Gamma-Ray Bursts and Mergers of Compact Objects: Observational Constraints

TL;DR: In this paper, a cosmological population of merging NS-NS and NS-BH was simulated and the distribution of their galactic offsets, the density distribution of the environment, and their expected afterglow characteristics.
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Gamma-ray Burst Energetics

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors estimate the fraction of the total energy in a Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) that is radiated in photons during the main burst, and they find that the energy release in the most energetic bursts is about 10$^{54}$ erg, a factor of more than 20 larger than previously estimated.
Journal ArticleDOI

GeV-TeV and X-Ray Flares from Gamma-Ray Bursts

TL;DR: In this article, the inverse Compton (IC) emission arising from such flare photons that are scattered by forward-shock afterglow electrons is detected by GLAST and ground-based TeV telescopes.
Journal ArticleDOI

Distribution of gamma-ray burst ejecta energy with Lorentz factor

TL;DR: The early X-ray afterglow for a significant number of gamma-ray bursts detected by the Swift satellite is observed to have a phase of very slow flux decline with time as discussed by the authors.
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