Magnetization Factors of Gamma-Ray Burst Jets Revealed by a Systematic Analysis of the Fermi Sample

Abstract

The composition of gamma-ray burst (GRB) jets remained a mystery until recently. In practice, we usually characterize the magnetization of the GRB jets ( σ _0 ) through the ratio between the Poynting flux and matter (baryonic) flux. With the increasing value of σ _0 , magnetic energy gradually takes on a dominant role in the acceleration and energy dissipation of the jet, causing the proportion of thermal component in the prompt-emission spectrum of GRBs to gradually decrease or even be completely suppressed. In this work, we conducted an extensive analysis of the time-resolved spectrum for all Fermi GRBs with known redshift, and we diagnose σ _0 for each time bin by contrasting the thermal and nonthermal radiation components. Our results suggest that most GRB jets should contain a significant magnetic energy component, likely with magnetization factors σ _0 ≥ 10. The value of σ _0 seems to vary significantly within the same GRB. Future studies with more samples, especially those with lower-energy spectral information coverage, will further verify our results.

Keywords

• Gamma-ray bursts