https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/i2019-12818-y
Regular Article - Theoretical Physics
Understanding the engines and progenitors of gamma-ray bursts
1
Center for Theoretical Astrophysics, Los Alamos National Laboratory, 87544, Los Alamos, NM, USA
2
Department of Physics, The George Washington University, 20052, Washington, DC, USA
3
University of New Mexico, 87544, Los Alamos, NM, USA
4
Department of Physical Science, Southern Utah University, 84721, Cedar City, Utah, USA
5
Center for Nonlinear Studies, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA
6
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, 48824, East Lansing, MI, USA
* e-mail: fryer@lanl.gov
Received:
5
February
2019
Accepted:
27
June
2019
Published online:
22
August
2019
Our understanding of the engines and progenitors of gamma-ray bursts has expanded through the ages as a broader set of diagnostics has allowed us to test our understanding of these objects. Here we review the history of the growth in our understanding, focusing on 3 leading engines and 9 potential progenitors. The first gravitational wave detection of a short burst is the latest in a series of breakthrough observations shaping this understanding and we study the importance of multi-diagnostic, multi-messenger observations on these engines and their progenitors. Our understanding based on a detailed study of nearby bursts can be applied to make predictions for the trends expected as we begin to observe high redshift bursts and we discuss these trends.
© Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature, 2019
