Gamma-ray Bursts

by Edited by Chryssa Kouveliotou , Ralph A. M. J. Wijers , Stan Woosley

• ISBN13: 9780521662093
• ISBN10: 0521662095
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2013-01-07
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Cosmic gamma ray bursts (GRBs) have fascinated scientists and the public alike since their discovery in the late 1960s. Their story is told here by some of the scientists who participated in their discovery and, after many decades of false starts, solved the problem of their origin. Fourteen chapters by active researchers in the field present a detailed history of the discovery, a comprehensive theoretical description of GRB central engine and emission models, a discussion of GRB host galaxies and a guide to how GRBs can be used as cosmological tools. Observations are grouped into three sets from the satellites CGRO, BeppoSAX and Swift, and followed by a discussion of multi-wavelength observations. This is the first edited volume on GRB astrophysics that presents a fully comprehensive review of the subject. Utilizing the latest research, Gamma Ray Bursts is an essential desktop companion for graduate students and researchers in astrophysics.

Table of Contents

Prologue

The discovery of the gamma-ray burst phenomenon

Instrumental principles

The BATSE era

The cosmological era

The Swift era

Discoveries enabled by multi-wavelength afterglow observations of gamma-ray bursts

Prompt emission from gamma-ray bursts

Basic gamma-ray burst afterglows

The GRB-supernova connection

Models for gamma-ray burst progenitors and central engines

Jets and gamma-ray burst unification schemes

High-energy cosmic rays and neutrinos

Long gamma-ray burst host galaxies and their environments

Gamma-ray burst cosmology

Epilogue

Index

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