Gamma-ray bursts prospects and conflicts. To the experiments the last word

Abstract

Gamma-ray bursts (GRB) are one of the most interesting astrophysical phenomenon ever observed. Since their discovery, the nature of GRB has been one of the great puzzles of modern astrophysics. During the last decade, two major experimental results provided new insight in our understanding of GRB. First, BATSE discovered that GRB are distributed isotropically over the sky giving a first indication of their cosmological origin. The second result has been obtained by BeppoSAX that discovered GRB afterglows. This confirmed the fireball model and led to observations in other wavelenghts. The emerging picture is that GRB involve relativistic motion and are related to supernova explosions and the formation of a black hole. With the most recent observations the common understing is that at least the long bursts originate in explosions of very massive stars or near the regions of massive star formation.