# High-Energy Spectral Signatures in Gamma-Ray Bursts

## Introduction

High energy gamma-rays have been observed for six gamma-ray bursts by the EGRET experiment on CGRO. Most conspicuous among these observations is the emission of an 18 GeV photon by the GRB940217 burst hurl94 . Taking into account the instrumental field of view, these detections indicate that emission in the 1 MeV–10 GeV range is probably common among bursts, if not universal. One implication of GRB observability at energies around or above 1 MeV is that, at these energies, spectral attenuation by two-photon pair production ($`\gamma \gamma e^+e^{}`$) is absent in the source. From this fact, early on Schmidt Schmidt78  concluded that if a typical burst produced quasi-isotropic radiation, it had to be less distant than a few kpc, since the optical depth $`\tau _{\gamma \gamma }`$ scales as the square of the distance to the burst.

This result conflicted with BATSE’s determination of the spatial isotropy and inhomogeneity of bursts Meeg96 , which suggested that they are either in an extended halo or at cosmological distances (where $`\tau _{\gamma \gamma }10^{12}`$ for isotropic photons). Hence Fenimore et al. feh92  proposed that GRB photon angular distributions are highly beamed and produced by a relativistically moving plasma, a suggestion that has become very popular. This can dramatically reduce $`\tau _{\gamma \gamma }`$ and blueshift spectral attenuation turnovers out of the observed spectral range. Various determinations of the bulk Lorentz factor $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ of the GRB medium have been made in recent years, mostly concentrating kp91 ; baring93  on cases where the angular extent of the source was of the order of $`\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}1}/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$. These calculations generally assume an infinite power-law burst spectrum, and deduce bh97b  that gamma-ray transparency up to the maximum energy detected by EGRET requires $`\mathrm{\Gamma }100`$$`\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}10}^3`$ for cosmological bursts.

While power-law source spectrum assumption is expedient, the spectral curvature seen in most GRBs by BATSE band93  is expected to play an important role in reducing the opacity for potential TeV emission from these sources (Baring & Harding bh97a ). Such curvature is patently evident in 200 keV–2 MeV spectra of some EGRET-detected bursts, and its prevalence in bursts is indicated by the generally steep EGRET spectra for bursts hurl94 ; Schneid92 ; Sommer94 . In this paper, the principal effects introduced into pair production opacity calculations by spectral breaks in the BATSE energy range are considered, focusing the work of bh97a  to identify the properties of cosmological bursts in the 1 GeV–1 TeV range. These signatures are clearly distinguishable from absorption by background radiation fields, thereby defining diagnostics that future ground-based initiatives such as Veritas, MILAGRO, HESS and MAGIC, and space missions such as GLAST can provide for GRB studies.

## SPECTRAL CURVATURE AND $`\gamma `$-$`\gamma `$ ATTENUATION

The simplest picture kp91 ; baring93  of relativistic beaming has “blobs” of material moving with a bulk Lorentz factor $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ more-or-less toward the observer, and having an angular “extent” $`1/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$. For an infinite power-law spectrum $`n(\epsilon )=n_\gamma \epsilon ^\alpha `$, where $`\epsilon `$ is the photon energy in units of $`m_ec^2`$ (a dimensionless convention used throughout), for which the optical depth to pair creation assumes the form $`\tau _{\gamma \gamma }(\epsilon )\epsilon ^{\alpha 1}\mathrm{\Gamma }^{(1+2\alpha )}`$ for $`\mathrm{\Gamma }1`$. As noted above, the input source spectrum needs to be modified, to explore the effects of a relative depletion of low energy photons in the BATSE range. The simplest approximation to spectral curvature is a power-law broken at a dimensionless energy $`\epsilon _\text{B}`$ ($`=E_\text{B}/0.511`$MeV):

$$n(\epsilon )=n_\gamma \epsilon _\text{B}^{\alpha _h}\{\begin{array}{cc}\epsilon _\text{B}^{\alpha _l}\epsilon ^{\alpha _l},\hfill & \text{if }\epsilon \epsilon _\text{B}\text{,}\hfill \\ \epsilon _\text{B}^{\alpha _h}\epsilon ^{\alpha _h},\hfill & \epsilon >\epsilon _\text{B}\text{.}\hfill \end{array}$$
(1)   
The optical depth determination for such a distribution utilizes results obtained in gs67  for truncated power-laws. The resulting forms are presented in bh97a , and the optical depth $`\tau _{\gamma \gamma }(\epsilon )`$ for attenuation of a broken power-law photon distribution has the basic form

$$\frac{\tau _{\gamma \gamma }\left(\epsilon \right)}{n_\gamma \sigma _\text{T}R}\{\begin{array}{cc}\frac{\epsilon ^{\alpha _h1}}{\mathrm{\Gamma }^{2\alpha _h}},\hfill & \text{if }\epsilon \mathrm{\Gamma }^2/\epsilon _\text{B}\text{,}\hfill \\ \frac{\epsilon ^{\alpha _l1}}{\mathrm{\Gamma }^{2\alpha _l}},\hfill & \text{if }\epsilon \mathrm{\Gamma }^2/\epsilon _\text{B}\text{,}\hfill \end{array}$$
(2)   
that implies breaks in the absorbed portion of the hard gamma-ray spectrum that “image” the BATSE band break in the seed photons. More gradual spectral curvature can be treated by fitting the GRB continuum with piecewise continuous power-laws. A variability “size” $`R_v=3\times 10^7`$cm ($`=R/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$) is chosen here following bh97b ; bh97a , and the observed flux at 1 MeV normalizes the source density coefficient $`n_\gamma `$.

The results of the attenuation of the spectra in Eq. (1) are depicted in Fig. 1 using an attenuation factor $`\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}1}/(1+\tau _{\gamma \gamma })`$ that is appropriate for opacity skin depth effects. The source spectrum parameters are chosen to approximate the observed values for the “Superbowl burst” GRB930131, for two different extragalactic distance scales: the nearer one, 30 Mpc, is appropriate to scenarios where GRBs generate ultra-high energy cosmic rays. Clearly the attenuation is marked in the GeV–TeV band for the Lorentz factors $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ chosen, and could be reduced by increasing $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$. The onset of attenuation couples to $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ and the EGRET band spectral index $`\alpha _h`$, and above this turnover the immediate spectral index is $`\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}1}2\alpha _h`$. Precise knowledge of the GRB distance, such as through redshifts of accompanying optical afterglows, would facilitate the determination of tight constraints on $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$. For either distance scale in Fig. 1, there is a flattening (to index $`\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}1}\alpha _h\alpha _l`$) in the TeV/sub-TeV band that is a consequence of the spectral break in the BATSE band: it arises at $`\epsilon \mathrm{\Gamma }^2/\epsilon _\text{B}`$.

The potential for observational diagnostics is immediately apparent. First, the extant EGRET data already provides a lower bound to $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$: the dot on Fig. 1 represents the highest energy photon from GRB930131, and clearly suggests that $`\mathrm{\Gamma }250`$ for $`d=30`$Mpc or $`\mathrm{\Gamma }800`$ for $`d=1`$Gpc. Second, the sensitivity of ACTs is easily sufficient to detect bursts even with significant attenuation, so that they could well probe the spectral issues raised here. While the Whipple rapid search Conn97  postdated the EGRET detections, and produced merely upper limits as indicated in Fig. 1, an intriguing possible detection of a BATSE burst by the MILAGRITO forerunner to MILAGRO was announced at this meeting by McEnery et al. (these proceedings), foreshadowing advances to come.

Perhaps the greatest strides in understanding will be precipitated by broad-band spectral coverage afforded by simultaneous detection of bursts by GLAST and TeV experiments like MILAGRO. Fig. 2 displays a time-evolutionary sequence of GRB spectra, including the effects of $`\gamma `$-$`\gamma `$ attenuation, and compares this with the potentially-constraining current Whipple integral sensitivity threshold (deduced from the results of Conn97 ), and the projected GLAST steady-source differential sensitivity. The GLAST sensitivity is obtained from simulations (Digel, private communication) of the spectral capability for high latitude, steady sources in a one-year survey, i.e. roughly 8 weeks on source. The real GLAST sensitivity for transient GRBs of duration $`t_{\mathrm{dur}}`$ can be estimated to be roughly $`[(8\mathrm{weeks})/t_{\mathrm{dur}}]^{1/2}`$ times that depicted. Note that the differential sensitivity is the most appropriate measure for spectral diagnostic capabilities. Evidently, ACTs and GLAST working in concert will be able to determine the spectral shape and evolution of bright, flat-spectrum bursts like GRB930131 if the attenuation is no more dramatic than $`\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}1}/(1+\tau _{\gamma \gamma })`$. The particular evolutionary scenario depicted in Fig. 2 is an adiabatic one for blast wave deceleration during the sweep-up phase, where the dependences on time $`t`$ are $`\mathrm{\Gamma }t^{3/8}`$, $`\epsilon _\text{B}\mathrm{\Gamma }^4t^{3/2}`$, and $`\epsilon _\text{B}^2f(\epsilon _\text{B})\mathrm{\Gamma }^{8/3}t^1`$ for the flux at the peak Derm99 . Shifts in the turnover energy and sub-TeV break energy, and correlations with BATSE flux and break energy should be discernible in bright sources.

It must be emphasized that these internal absorption characteristics are easily distinguishable from those of external absorption due to the cosmological infra-red background along the line of sight SdeJ96 ; mhf96 . Attenuation by such background fields couples to the redshift, not parameters internal to the source nor the shape of the spectrum in the BATSE and EGRET bands. Furthermore, it is always exponential in nature (i.e. of severity equivalent to the dashed curve in Fig. 2) since the emission region is distinct from the location of the soft target photons, and is patently independent of time. The possibility of confusing such with the internal attenuation that forms the focus of this paper seems minimal. Hence, the prospects for powerful spectral diagnostics in bright bursts with atmospheric Čerenkov telescopes and the GLAST mission promise an exciting time ahead for the field of high energy gamma-ray astronomy.

Acknowledgments: I thank Alice Harding and Brenda Dingus for helpful discussions, and Seth Digel for simulating GLAST spectral sensitivities.