The photosphere emission spectrum of hybrid relativistic outflow for gamma-ray bursts

The photospheric emission in the prompt phase is the natural prediction of the original fireball model for gamma-ray burst (GRB) due to the large optical depth (tau > 1) at the base of the outflow, which is supported by the quasi-thermal components detected in several Fermi GRBs. However, which radiation mechanism (photosphere or synchrotron) dominates in most GRB spectra is still under hot debate. The shape of the observed photosphere spectrum from a pure hot fireball or a pure Poynting-flux-dominated outflow has been investigated before. In this work, we further study the photosphere spectrum from a hybrid outflow containing both a thermal component and a magnetic component with moderate magnetization (sigma(0) = L-P/L-Th similar to 1 - 10), by invoking the probability photosphere model. The high-energy spectrum from such a hybrid outflow is a power law rather than an exponential cutoff, which is compatible with the observed Band function in a great amount of GRBs. Also, the distribution of the low-energy indices (corresponding to the peak-flux spectra) is found to be quite consistent with the statistical result for the peak-flux spectra of GRBs best-fitted by the Band function, with similar angular profiles of structured jet in our previous works. Finally, the observed distribution of the high-energy indices can be well understood after considering the different magnetic acceleration (due to magnetic reconnection and kink instability) and the angular profiles of dimensionless entropy with the narrower core.

Automated summary

This article investigates the photosphere spectrum of a hybrid outflow containing both a thermal component and a magnetic component. The high-energy spectrum obtained using the probability photosphere model is consistent with the observed GRB spectra. The distribution of the low-energy indices is in agreement with the statistical results for the best-fitted Band function.