Inverse Compton Scattering Spectra of Gamma-Ray Burst Prompt Emission

Abstract

Abstract Although the physical origin of gamma-ray burst (GRB) prompt emission is still controversial, synchrotron radiation from accelerated electrons is a promising mechanism. It is believed that electrons are accelerated continuously by ultra-relativistic shocks or magnetic reconnections. At the same time, these electrons will be cooled via several processes (mainly adiabatic expansion, synchrotron radiation, and inverse Compton scattering (ICS)), which regulate the distribution of electrons. An extra high-energy spectrum component is expected to be induced by ICS. However, the gamma–gamma annihilation effect may eliminate the high-energy photons and prevent the observers from distinguishing the extra component. We perform numerical calculations by taking these effects into account and discuss whether the extra ICS component could be observed. By exploring the plausible parameter space for relevant quantities of the GRB ejecta, we present the electron distributions and the corresponding spectra of synchrotron radiation and ICS. It is found that the extra component is observable only for ejecta with a rather large bulk Lorentz factor. A large Lorentz factor means the adiabatic expansion is the leading process in the electron cooling procedure, which makes the low-energy electron distribution spectrum relatively hard. Therefore, the ICS component is more likely to be detected for GRBs that have a hard low-energy photon spectrum.