AAS 205th Meeting, 9-13 January 2005
Session 160 GRBs: Observatories and Observations
Oral, Thursday, January 13, 2005, 10:00-11:30am, Pacific Salon 1

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[160.07] Early Afterglows and GRB Jet Composition

B. Zhang (UNLV), Y. Z. Fan (UNLV & PMO, China), S. Kobayashi (PSU)

GRB early optical afterglows contain rich information about the nature of the fireball jets. In particular, it would serve as an important diagnostic tool for the jet composition, e.g. baryonic component versue Poynting flux component, and the neutron fraction within the baryonic component. We will discuss theoretical predictions of GRB early afterglow lightcurves, including how the upstream magnetization influences both the reverse and forward shock emission, as well as how the neutron component displays distinct signatures in the lightcurves. These predictions will be clearly tested by the Swift mission when abundant early afterglow data become available.

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© 2004. The American Astronomical Society.