Depolarization by Jet Precession in Early Optical Afterglows of Gamma-Ray Bursts
Polarization observations provide a unique way to probe the nature of jet magnetic fields in gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Recently, some GRBs have been detected to be polarized in their early optical afterglows. However, the measured polarization degrees (PDs) of these GRBs are much lower than those pre...
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IOP Publishing
2024-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad96b0 |
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| author | Bao-Quan Huang Tong Liu Guo-Yu Li |
| author_facet | Bao-Quan Huang Tong Liu Guo-Yu Li |
| author_sort | Bao-Quan Huang |
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| description | Polarization observations provide a unique way to probe the nature of jet magnetic fields in gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Recently, some GRBs have been detected to be polarized in their early optical afterglows. However, the measured polarization degrees (PDs) of these GRBs are much lower than those predicted by theoretical models. In this work, we investigate the depolarization induced by jet precession in combination with the measured PDs of the GRB early optical afterglows in the reverse shock (RS) dominated phase (∼10 ^2 –10 ^3 s). We calculate the PDs of RS emissions with and without jet precession in both magnetic field configurations, i.e., aligned and toroidal magnetic fields, and meanwhile explore the effects of different parameters on the PDs. We find that the PDs are slightly affected by the configurations of the ordered magnetic fields and are positively related to the precession period. Moreover, the PDs are sensitive to the observed angle, and the measured low PDs favor a small one. Thus, as one of the plausible origins of the structured jets, jet precession could be considered as an alternative mechanism for the low PDs observed in GRB early optical afterglows. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-3b148628f6aa45a49e29800aee108e0d |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
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| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-3b148628f6aa45a49e29800aee108e0d2024-12-23T08:36:34ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572024-01-0197812510.3847/1538-4357/ad96b0Depolarization by Jet Precession in Early Optical Afterglows of Gamma-Ray BurstsBao-Quan Huang0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4448-0849Tong Liu1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8678-6291Guo-Yu Li2Department of Astronomy, Xiamen University , Xiamen, Fujian 361005, People's Republic of China ; tongliu@xmu.edu.cnDepartment of Astronomy, Xiamen University , Xiamen, Fujian 361005, People's Republic of China ; tongliu@xmu.edu.cnLaboratory for Relativistic Astrophysics, Department of Physics, Guangxi University , Nanning 530004, People's Republic of ChinaPolarization observations provide a unique way to probe the nature of jet magnetic fields in gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Recently, some GRBs have been detected to be polarized in their early optical afterglows. However, the measured polarization degrees (PDs) of these GRBs are much lower than those predicted by theoretical models. In this work, we investigate the depolarization induced by jet precession in combination with the measured PDs of the GRB early optical afterglows in the reverse shock (RS) dominated phase (∼10 ^2 –10 ^3 s). We calculate the PDs of RS emissions with and without jet precession in both magnetic field configurations, i.e., aligned and toroidal magnetic fields, and meanwhile explore the effects of different parameters on the PDs. We find that the PDs are slightly affected by the configurations of the ordered magnetic fields and are positively related to the precession period. Moreover, the PDs are sensitive to the observed angle, and the measured low PDs favor a small one. Thus, as one of the plausible origins of the structured jets, jet precession could be considered as an alternative mechanism for the low PDs observed in GRB early optical afterglows.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad96b0Gamma-ray burstsPolarimetryShocksRelativistic jets |
| spellingShingle | Bao-Quan Huang Tong Liu Guo-Yu Li Depolarization by Jet Precession in Early Optical Afterglows of Gamma-Ray Bursts The Astrophysical Journal Gamma-ray bursts Polarimetry Shocks Relativistic jets |
| title | Depolarization by Jet Precession in Early Optical Afterglows of Gamma-Ray Bursts |
| title_full | Depolarization by Jet Precession in Early Optical Afterglows of Gamma-Ray Bursts |
| title_fullStr | Depolarization by Jet Precession in Early Optical Afterglows of Gamma-Ray Bursts |
| title_full_unstemmed | Depolarization by Jet Precession in Early Optical Afterglows of Gamma-Ray Bursts |
| title_short | Depolarization by Jet Precession in Early Optical Afterglows of Gamma-Ray Bursts |
| title_sort | depolarization by jet precession in early optical afterglows of gamma ray bursts |
| topic | Gamma-ray bursts Polarimetry Shocks Relativistic jets |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad96b0 |
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