Prompt High-Energy Gamma-Ray Emission from the Synchrotron Self-Compton Process in the Reverse Shocks of Gamma-Ray Bursts

Abstract

In the standard scenario of the fireball model of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), the huge initial energy release produces a relativistic blast wave expanding into the external medium and a reverse shock moving into and heating the fireball ejecta. We calculate the high-energy gamma-ray emission due to inverse Compton scattering of the synchrotron photons from relativistic electrons in the reverse shock. Under the favorable values of the physical parameters of the GRBs and the interstellar medium, our result shows that during the prompt phase, this emission dominates over the component from the forward shock at high-energy gamma-ray bands. This mechanism can excellently account for the observations of the prompt high-energy gamma rays detected by EGRET, such as those from GRB 930131.