%0 Generic %1 citeulike:13491629 %A Guidorzi, C. %A Dichiara, S. %A Frontera, F. %A Margutti, R. %A Baldeschi, A. %A Amati, L. %D 2015 %K imported %T A common stochastic process rules gamma-ray burst prompt emission and X-ray flares %U http://arxiv.org/abs/1501.02706 %X Prompt gamma-ray and early X-ray afterglow emission in gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are characterized by a bursty behavior and are often interspersed with long quiescent times. There is compelling evidence that X-ray flares are linked to prompt gamma-rays. However, the physical mechanism that leads to the complex temporal distribution of gamma-ray pulses and X-ray flares is not understood. Here we show that the waiting time distribution (WTD) of pulses and flares exhibits a power-law tail extending over 4 decades with index \~2 and can be the manifestation of a common time-dependent Poisson process. This result is robust and is obtained on different catalogs. Surprisingly, GRBs with many (>=8) gamma-ray pulses are very unlikely to be accompanied by X-ray flares after the end of the prompt emission (3.1 sigma Gaussian confidence). These results are consistent with a simple interpretation: an hyperaccreting disk breaks up into one or a few groups of fragments, each of which is independently accreted with the same probability per unit time. Prompt gamma-rays and late X-ray flares are nothing but different fragments being accreted at the beginning and at the end, respectively, following the very same stochastic process and likely the same mechanism.

@misc{citeulike:13491629, abstract = {{Prompt gamma-ray and early X-ray afterglow emission in gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are characterized by a bursty behavior and are often interspersed with long quiescent times. There is compelling evidence that X-ray flares are linked to prompt gamma-rays. However, the physical mechanism that leads to the complex temporal distribution of gamma-ray pulses and X-ray flares is not understood. Here we show that the waiting time distribution (WTD) of pulses and flares exhibits a power-law tail extending over 4 decades with index \~{}2 and can be the manifestation of a common time-dependent Poisson process. This result is robust and is obtained on different catalogs. Surprisingly, GRBs with many (\>=8) gamma-ray pulses are very unlikely to be accompanied by X-ray flares after the end of the prompt emission (3.1 sigma Gaussian confidence). These results are consistent with a simple interpretation: an hyperaccreting disk breaks up into one or a few groups of fragments, each of which is independently accreted with the same probability per unit time. Prompt gamma-rays and late X-ray flares are nothing but different fragments being accreted at the beginning and at the end, respectively, following the very same stochastic process and likely the same mechanism.}}, added-at = {2019-03-25T08:20:55.000+0100}, archiveprefix = {arXiv}, author = {Guidorzi, C. and Dichiara, S. and Frontera, F. and Margutti, R. and Baldeschi, A. and Amati, L.}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/23ab7c98e6650ef7ae7f7622928f3db4b/ericblackman}, citeulike-article-id = {13491629}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://arxiv.org/abs/1501.02706}, citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://arxiv.org/pdf/1501.02706}, day = 12, eprint = {1501.02706}, interhash = {b025c5f7a873ef5166c64d8ac9e30a4a}, intrahash = {3ab7c98e6650ef7ae7f7622928f3db4b}, keywords = {imported}, month = jan, posted-at = {2015-01-14 08:30:46}, priority = {2}, timestamp = {2019-03-25T08:20:55.000+0100}, title = {{A common stochastic process rules gamma-ray burst prompt emission and X-ray flares}}, url = {http://arxiv.org/abs/1501.02706}, year = 2015 }