Colloquia

Seminars

• Astronomy and Space Physics
• Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
• Condensed Matter
• Fluids and Plasmas
• Particle Physics
• Calendar of Events

Graduation Commencement

Astronomy & Space Physics Seminar Abstract

Date: Nov 14th (215 Conference Room Shap Lab at 4:00pm)

Speaker: Abe Falcone, Research Associate Scientist, Penn State University

Title: The New Paradigm of High Energy Afterglows from GRBs in the Swift Era

Abstract: Swift was launched 2004 November 20. Since that time, the Burst Alert Telescope has detected approximately 2 gamma ray bursts (GRBs) per week, and the pointed instruments, including the X-ray Telescope and the Ultraviolet Optical Telescope, have slewed to a large fraction of these bursts with unprecedented speed. Nearly all of these observations have resulted in the detection of an X-ray afterglow. The prompt observation of GRB positions has allowed the X-ray telescope to study GRB afterglows at times that are several orders of magnitude earlier than past observations. Many exciting results have emerged, including X-ray afterglow detections of multiple short-hard bursts, ubiquitous flares at late times (100-10000 s) implying delayed sporadic internal engine activity, a new canonical afterglow light curve including the transition from the prompt emission and multiple breaks in the power law-decay slope, very high redshift afterglow measurements, and several other new results. A summary of these recent observations and some implications will be discussed, with particular emphasis on the emergence of new phenomena in the early X-ray afterglows of long bursts.