Modelling synchrotron and synchrotron self-Compton emission of gamma-ray burst afterglows from radio to very-high energies

Abstract

ABSTRACT Synchrotron radiation from a decelerating blastwave is a widely accepted model of radio to X-ray afterglow emission from gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). GeV gamma-ray emission detected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) and the duration of which extends beyond the prompt gamma-ray emission phase is also compatible with broad features of afterglow emission. We revisit the synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) emission model from a decelerating blastwave to fit multiwavelength data from three bright GRBs, namely GRB 190114C, GRB 130427A, and GRB 090510. We constrain the afterglow model parameters using the simultaneous fit of the spectral energy distributions at different times and light curves at different frequencies for these bursts. We find that a constant density interstellar medium is favoured for the short GRB 090510, while a wind-type environment is favoured for the long GRB 130427A and GRB 190114C. The sub-TeV component in GRB 190114C detected by MAGIC is the SSC emission in our modelling. Furthermore, we find that the SSC emission in the Thomson regime is adequate to fit the spectra and light curves of GRB 190114C. For the other two GRBs, lacking sub-TeV detection, the SSC emissions are also modelled in the Thomson regime. For the model parameters we have used, the γγ attenuation in the blastwave is negligible in the sub-TeV range compared to the redshift-dependent γγ attenuation in the extragalactic background light.