November 18
Connecting Gamma-Ray Burst Central Engines to the Photosphere
Speaker: Nathan Walker, Oregon State
Abstract: Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are known to be produced during binary neutron star mergers and the core collapse of massive stars. As one of the primary electromagnetic signals we observe from these systems, GRBs can provide crucial insights into black holes, compact object mergers, and accretion physics. However, despite decades of progress in our understanding GRBs, uncertainties regarding central engines and the mechanism for GRB emission have prevented a strong connection between the properties of central engines and those of the observed emission. I will discuss recent efforts to overcome both of these limitations, including the work I do to develop state-of-the-art computational methods for predicting GRB emission. Building off of previous work that predicts GRB emission through the scattering of photons with relativistic outflows, I incorporate stages of GRB production that occur close to the central engine, thereby allowing predictions of GRB emission to be sensitive to the central engine.
Host: Tyler Parsotan