# On the energy of gamma-ray bursts

## 1 Introduction

The widely accepted interpretation of the phenomenology of $`\gamma `$-ray bursts (GRBs) is that the observable effects are due to the dissipation of the kinetic energy of a relativistically expanding fireball (see Mészáros (1995) and Piran (1996) for reviews). In the last two years, afterglows of GRBs have been discovered in X-ray (Costa et al. (1997)), optical (van Paradijs et al. (1997)) and radio (Frail et al. (1997)) wavelength. Afterglow observations lead to the confirmation of the cosmological origin of the bursts through the detection of redshifted optical absorption lines (e.g. Metzger et al. (1997)), and confirmed (Waxman 1997a ; Wijers, Rees & Mészáros (1997)) standard model predictions (Paczyński & Rhoads (1993); Katz (1994); Mészáros & Rees (1997); Vietri 1997a ) of afterglow that results from the collision of the expanding fireball with surrounding medium.

In fireball models of GRBs the energy released by an explosion is converted to kinetic energy of a thin baryonic shell expanding at an ultra-relativistic speed. After producing the GRB, the shell impacts on surrounding gas, driving an ultra-relativistic shock into the ambient medium. After a short transition phase, the expanding blast wave approaches a self-similar behavior (Blandford & McKee (1976)). The long term afterglow is produced by the expanding shock that propagates into the surrounding gas. This shock continuously heats fresh gas and accelerates relativistic electrons to a power-law energy distribution, which produces the observed radiation through synchrotron emission. The simplest fireball afterglow model therefore depends on five model parameters: the explosion energy $`E`$, the ambient density $`n`$, the spectral index of the electron energy distribution $`p`$, and the fractions $`\xi _e`$ and $`\xi _B`$ of shock thermal energy carried by electrons and magnetic field respectively. The model may be further elaborated by allowing inhomogeneous density distribution and deviations from spherical symmetry (Mészáros, Rees & Wijers (1998); Vietri 1997b ; Rhoads (1997); Chevalier & Li (1999)).

Despite the fact that afterglow observations are in general consistent with fireball model predictions, observations do not allow, in almost all cases, the determination of basic fireball parameters. In particular, the fireball energy, and hence the efficiency with which this energy is converted to $`\gamma `$-ray radiation, can be reliably determined only in one case, namely that of GRB 970508, for which wide spectral coverage is available over hundreds of days (Waxman 1997b ; Waxman, Kulkarni & Frail (1998); Granot et al. (1999); Wijers & Galama (1999); Frail, Waxman & Kulkarni (1999)). For all other cases, energy estimates rely on the observed $`\gamma `$-ray fluence (which dominates the fluence at all other wave-bands). Such energy estimates are, however, subject to large uncertainties.

During $`\gamma `$-ray emission the fireball expands with a large Lorentz factor, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }10^{2.5}`$, and a distant observer receives radiation from a conical section of the fireball of opening angle $`10^{2.5}`$ around the line of sight. Observed $`\gamma `$-ray fluence provides therefore the $`\gamma `$-ray energy per unit solid angle $`\epsilon _\gamma `$ emitted by a conical section of the fireball of opening angle $`10^{2.5}`$. Thus, if the fireball is a jet of opening angle $`\theta _j10^{2.5}`$, its total $`\gamma `$-ray energy would be smaller by a factor $`\theta _j^2/4`$ compared to that inferred assuming spherical symmetry. The total $`\gamma `$-ray energy emitted may differ significantly from that obtained assuming spherical symmetry also for $`\theta _j1`$, if $`\epsilon _\gamma `$ is strongly dependent on the angle $`\theta `$ with respect to the line of sight. It has therefore been suggested (Kumar & Piran (1999)) that the most energetic bursts (i.e. those with highest isotropic $`\gamma `$-ray energy) may not represent much higher energy release from the source, but rather cases in which our line of sight happens to coincide with a small patch on the fireball emitting surface which is much brighter than average.

Energy estimates based on $`\gamma `$-ray fluence are furthermore uncertain even in the case of spherical symmetry, since it is possible that only a small fraction of fireball energy is converted to $`\gamma `$-ray radiation. It is generally argued, for example, that if $`\gamma `$-ray emission is due to internal shocks within the fireball, then only a small fraction, $`<10^2`$, of fireball energy is converted to $`\gamma `$-rays (Panaitescu, Spada & Mészáros (1999); Kumar (1999); Kumar & Piran (1999)). The low efficiency obtained in these analyses is not due to low electron energy fraction (equipartition, $`\xi _e1/3`$, is assumed), but rather due to the low efficiency of converting kinetic energy to thermal energy in the models analyzed, and due to the fact that not all of the radiation is emitted in the observed $`\gamma `$-ray band. For $`\xi _e`$ values below equipartition, the efficiency would be even lower.

The main goal of this paper is to address the open questions associated with GRB energy and $`\gamma `$-ray production efficiency. We show that significant progress can be made in inferring basic fireball parameters if, instead of analyzing individual burst data, the ensemble of GRB afterglow observations is analyzed under the hypothesis that the values of parameters which are determined by the micro-physics of the relativistic shock, e.g. $`p`$ and $`\xi _e`$, are universal. We first show in §2.1 that afterglow observations provide strong support to the hypothesis that the spectral index of the electron energy distribution is universal, $`p2`$. We then show in §2.2 that, adopting a universal $`p`$ value, a single X-ray afterglow flux measurement at time $`t`$ provides a robust estimate of the total energy per unit solid angle carried by fireball electrons, $`\epsilon _e\xi _eE/4\pi `$, over a conical section of the fireball of opening angle $`1/\mathrm{\Gamma }(t)`$, where $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is the fireball expansion Lorentz factor (For X-ray observations on day time scale, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }10`$). We then show in §2.3 that afterglow observations also imply a universal value close to equipartition for the electron energy fraction, $`\xi _e1/3`$. Thus, X-ray afterglow flux measurement also provides a robust estimate of the total fireball energy per unit solid angle, $`\epsilon E/4\pi `$. Applying these ideas we provide in §2 constraints on fireball energy for all GRBs with X-ray afterglow data. The implications of our results are discussed in §3. 

## 2 Analysis

### 2.1 Electron spectral index

For a power-law electron energy distribution, $`dn_e/d\gamma _e\gamma _e^p`$, the spectrum of synchrotron emission is $`f_\nu \nu ^{(p1)/2}`$ at frequencies where emission is dominated by electrons for which the synchrotron cooling time is larger than the source expansion time, and $`f_\nu \nu ^{p/2}`$ at higher frequencies, where electron synchrotron cooling time is shorter (e.g. Rybicki & Lightman (1979)). Unfortunately, observed afterglow spectra do not in general allow an accurate determination of $`p`$, since optical spectra may be affected by extinction and since X-ray data typically does not allow accurate determination of X-ray photon spectral indices. Accurate determination of $`p`$ is possible, nevertheless, in the case of GRB 970508, where radio, optical and X-ray spectral data are available; these data imply $`p=2.2\pm 0.1`$ (Galama et al. (1998); Frail, Waxman & Kulkarni (1999)), and in the case of GRB 990510, where BVRI optical data determine $`p=2.2\pm 0.2`$ (Stanek et al. (1999)).

Within the framework of the fireball model, the afterglow flux at high frequency exhibits a power-law decay in time, $`f_\nu t^\alpha `$, where $`\alpha `$ is related to the electron index $`p`$. Here too, accurate determination of $`p`$ is generally not possible based on measurements of $`\alpha `$, since the relation between $`\alpha `$ and $`p`$ depends on the spatial distribution of ambient density and on the angular distribution of fireball parameters (Mészáros, Rees & Wijers (1998)). However, in several cases the time dependence of optical flux strongly suggests a universal value $`p2`$. The steepening of optical flux decay in GRB 990510 afterglow (Stanek et al. (1999)) and the fast decline of optical flux for GRB 980519, $`\alpha =2.05\pm 0.04`$, and GRB 980326, $`\alpha =2.1\pm 0.1`$, (Halpern, Kemp, & Piran (1999); Groot et al. (1999)) is most naturally explained (Rhoads (1997),1999,Mészáros, Rees & Wijers (1998); Sari, Piran & Halpern (1999); Harrison et al. (1999); Stanek et al. (1999)) by the fireball being initially a collimated jet. In this case steepening takes place once sideways expansion of the jet becomes important, at which stage the the temporal power-law flux decay index is $`\alpha =p`$. The observed values of $`\alpha `$ are consistent therefore with $`p2`$.

We present here additional evidence for a universal $`p2`$ value. In Table 1 the effective photon spectral index determined by X-ray and optical afterglow fluxes, $`\beta _{OX}\mathrm{ln}(f_X/f_O)/\mathrm{ln}(\nu _X/\nu _O)`$, is shown for all cases where both X-ray and optical afterglow fluxes are available. The values of $`\beta _{OX}`$ are in the range of 0.6 to 1.1. This is the range expected for a power-law electron energy distribution with $`p=2.2`$. For such a distribution $`\beta _{OX}=p/2=1.1`$ is obtained for the case where the frequency $`\nu _c`$, at which emission is dominated by electrons with synchrotron cooling time comparable to the fireball expansion time, is below the optical band $`\nu _c\nu _O`$, $`\beta _{OX}=(p1)/2=0.6`$ is obtained for $`\nu _c\nu _X`$, and $`0.6<\beta _{OX}<1.1`$ for $`\nu _O<\nu _c<\nu _X`$.

We note that an alternative model for the fast, $`\alpha 2`$, optical flux decline of GRB 980519 has been suggested (Chevalier & Li (1999)), in which the afterglow is produced by a spherical fireball expanding into a pre-burst massive star wind, where $`nr^2`$. Since for $`p2`$ expansion into a wind gives an optical flux decline which is not significantly steeper than that obtained for expansion into homogeneous density (e.g. Livio & Waxman (1999)), the wind model for GRB 980519 invokes a steep electron index $`p=3`$ to account for the fast decline (Chevalier & Li (1999)). We note, however, that for such a steep electron index the model X-ray flux is $`6`$ times lower than the measured flux at $`t=0.5`$ d<sup>1</sup><sup>1</sup>1 The apparent agreement between model and measured X-ray flux in Fig. 1 of Chevalier & Li (1999) is due to the fact that the presented flux is calculated assuming $`\nu _c>\nu _X`$ while for the wind model parameters $`\nu _c3\times 10^{16}\mathrm{Hz}\nu _X=10^{18}`$ Hz..

### 2.2 Fireball electron energy

For clarity, we first discuss in this section spherical fireballs of energy $`E`$ expanding into uniform ambient density $`n`$. We then generalize the discussion to the case where spherical symmetry and homogeneity are not assumed. Since the value of $`p`$ in the cases where it is best determined by observations is $`p=2.2`$, we present numeric results for $`p=2.2`$ and comment on the sensitivity of the results to changes in $`p`$ value.

Adopting the hypothesis that the electron spectral index value is universal, $`p2`$, the fact that $`\beta _{OX}>0.6`$ in all cases (see Table 1) implies that $`\nu _c<\nu _X`$ in all cases (Note that extinction in the host galaxy can only reduce the observed value of $`\beta _{OX}`$). This is indeed expected, since on time scale of a day, the time scale over which X-ray afterglow is observed, $`\nu _c`$ is typically expected to be well bellow the X-ray band. The (fireball rest frame) Lorentz factor $`\gamma _c`$ of electrons for which the synchrotron cooling time is comparable to the (rest frame) adiabatic cooling time is determined by $`6\pi m_ec/\sigma _T\gamma _cB^2=24\mathrm{\Gamma }t/13`$. Here, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is the shocked plasma Lorentz factor, related to observed time by $`tr/4\mathrm{\Gamma }^2c`$ (Waxman 1997c ), and the adiabatic cooling time is $`6r/13\mathrm{\Gamma }c`$ (Gruzinov & Waxman (1999)). The characteristic (observed) frequency of synchrotron photons emitted by such electrons, $`\nu _c0.3\mathrm{\Gamma }\gamma _c^2eB/2\pi m_ec`$, is

$$\nu _c4.7\times 10^{13}\left(\frac{1+z}{2.5}\right)^{1/2}\xi _{B,2}^{3/2}n_0^1E_{53}^{1/2}t_\mathrm{d}^{1/2}\mathrm{Hz},$$
(1)   
where $`E=10^{53}E_{53}`$ erg, $`n=1n_0\mathrm{cm}^3`$, $`\xi _B=10^2\xi _{B,2}`$ and $`t=1t_\mathrm{d}`$ d. In deriving Eq. (1) we have used the self-similar relation between fireball Lorentz factor and radius, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=(17E/16\pi nm_pc^2)^{1/2}r^{3/2}`$ (Blandford & McKee (1976)), and the relation $`t=r/4\mathrm{\Gamma }^2c`$ between fireball radius and observed time (Waxman 1997c ).

The synchrotron peak flux $`f_m`$ in the fireball model under consideration is time independent,

$$f_m=C_1(1+z)d_L^2\xi _B^{1/2}En^{1/2},$$
(2)   
and the peak frequency $`\nu _m`$ decreases with time,

$$\nu _m=C_2(1+z)^{1/2}\xi _e^2\xi _B^{1/2}E^{1/2}t^{3/2}.$$
(3)   
Here, $`C_{1,2}`$ are numeric constants, and $`d_L`$ is the burst luminosity distance. In what follows we use the analytic results of Gruzinov & Waxman (1999) for the values of the numeric constants, $`C_1=1.4\times 10^{21}\mathrm{cm}^{3/2}`$ and $`C_2=6.1\times 10^5\mathrm{s}^{3/2}\mathrm{g}^{1/2}\mathrm{cm}^1`$. Similar values have been obtained by numerical (Granot et al. (1999)) and approximate analytic (Wijers & Galama (1999)) calculations. Order unity differences between the various analyses reflect different detailed model assumptions and degree of accuracy of the approximations. Note, that the exact value of $`C_2`$ depends on the detailed shape of the electron distribution function ($`C_1`$ is insensitive to such details, Gruzinov & Waxman (1999)). Although we have strong evidence that at high energy this distribution is a power-law, it may not be a pure power-law at low energy, which would affect the value of $`C_2`$. However, the relation (3) would still hold for all GRBs as long as the distribution function is universal.

Using Eqs. (13), the fireball electron energy, $`\xi _eE`$, is related to the observed flux $`f_\nu (\nu ,t)`$ at time $`t`$ and frequency $`\nu \nu _c`$, $`f_\nu =f_m\nu _m^{(p1)/2}\nu _c^{1/2}\nu ^{p/2}`$, as

$$\xi _eE=(C_2C_3)^{1/2}C_1^1\frac{d_L^2}{1+z}\nu tf_\nu (\nu ,t)Y^ϵ,$$
(4)   
where

$$YC_1C_3^{1/2}C_2^{3/2}\xi _e^3\xi _B^1d_L^2\nu t^2f_\nu ^1(\nu ,t),ϵ\frac{p2}{p+2}.$$
(5)   
Here, we have defined $`C_3=6.9\times 10^{39}\mathrm{s}^{3/2}\mathrm{g}^{1/2}\mathrm{cm}^2`$ so that $`\nu _c=C_3(1+z)^{1/2}\xi _B^{3/2}n^1E^{1/2}t^{1/2}`$. Eq. (4) implies that a measurement of the flux $`f_\nu `$ at a frequency above the cooling frequency provides a robust estimate of the fireball electron energy. The energy estimate is independent of the ambient density $`n`$ and nearly independent of $`\xi _B`$, $`\xi _eE\xi _B^ϵ`$ with $`ϵ1`$ (e.g. $`ϵ=1/21`$ for p=2.2). Since $`ϵ1`$, the value of $`Y^ϵ`$ is similar for all GRBs. It also implies that changing the value of $`p`$ would affect the energy estimate of all bursts in a similar way. For typical parameters, $`f(\nu =10^{18}\mathrm{Hz},t=1\mathrm{d})=0.1\mu \mathrm{Jy}`$, $`d_L=3\times 10^{28}`$ cm, $`\xi _e=0.2`$ and $`\xi _B=0.01`$, we have $`Y^ϵ=10^{10ϵ}`$, i.e. $`Y^ϵ=3`$ for $`p=2.2`$ and $`Y^ϵ=8`$ for $`p=2.4`$. Note that changing $`p=2.2`$ to $`p=2.4`$ would increase the energy estimate by less than a factor of $`8/3`$, since the value of $`C_2`$ is higher for larger $`p`$. For pure power-law electron distribution, $`C_2^{1/2}(p2)/(p1)`$ and the energy obtained assuming $`p=2.4`$ is larger than that obtained assuming $`p=2.2`$ by a factor of $`1.6`$.

A few comments should be made here regarding the uniform density and spherical symmetry assumptions. Since the energy estimate (4) is independent of $`n`$, it holds not only for the case of homogeneous density, but also to models with variable density, e.g. for wind models in which $`nr^2`$. The values of the constants $`C_{1,2,3}`$ would of course differ, by order unity factors, from those used here. However, the relation (4) should still hold and the energy estimate would not be significantly affected as $`C_{1,2,3}`$ would not be significantly modified.

We have so far assumed spherical symmetry. Since the fireball expands at relativistic speed, a distant observer receives radiation from a conical section of the fireball with opening angle $`1/\mathrm{\Gamma }(t)`$ around the line of sight. Thus, the energy $`E`$ in the discussion above should be understood as the energy that the fireball would have carried had it been spherically symmetric. In particular, Eq. (4) determines the fireball energy per unit solid angle $`\epsilon _e\xi _eE/4\pi `$, within the observable cone of opening angle $`1/\mathrm{\Gamma }(t)`$. The Lorentz factor $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$,

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }=10.6\left(\frac{1+z}{2}\right)^{3/8}\left(\frac{E_{53}}{n_0}\right)^{1/8}t_\mathrm{d}^{3/8},$$
(6)   
is only weakly dependent on fireball parameters. Thus, X-ray observations on $`1`$ d time scale provide information on a conical section of the fireball of opening angle $`\theta 0.1`$ (this holds also for the wind case, Livio & Waxman (1999)). Note, that since observed $`\gamma `$-rays are emitted at a stage the fireball is highly relativistic, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }300`$, $`\gamma `$-ray observations provide information on a much smaller section of the fireball, $`\theta 10^{2.5}`$.

Table 2 compares observed GRB $`\gamma `$-ray energy per unit solid angle with fireball electron energy per unit solid angle derived from X-ray afterglow flux using Eq. (4). Results are given for all bursts with published $`\gamma `$-ray fluence and X-ray afterglow flux (Note, that for all but one of the BeppoSAX triggered GRBs which were observed with the NFI, X-Ray afterglow has been detected; We exclude GRB 980425 from the analysis, since for this bursts it is not clear whether or not X-ray afterglow was detected, Pian et al. (1999)). We present our results in terms of $`3\epsilon _e=3\xi _e\epsilon `$, which is the total fireball energy under the assumption of electron energy equipartition, $`\xi _e1/3`$. The results are also shown in Fig. 1. We have included in the table and figure bursts for which optical data is not available. For such bursts, the effective spectral index $`\beta _{OX}`$ can not be determined, and therefore it can not be directly demonstrated from observations that $`\nu _X>\nu _c`$, and hence that Eq. (4) applies. However, it is clear from Eq. (1) that the condition $`\nu _X>\nu _c`$ is likely to be satisfied on a day time scale. In addition, the distribution of GRB $`\gamma `$-ray and total energy ratios we infer for bursts without optical counterpart is similar to that of bursts with optical counterpart, indicating that indeed the condition $`\nu _X>\nu _c`$ is satisfied. To determine the absolute energy of GRBs for which the redshift is unknown, we have assumed GRB redshift of $`z=1.5`$, since, based on measured GRB redshifts, most detected GRBs are expected to occur at the redshift range of 1 to 2 (Krumholtz, Thorsett & Harrison (1998); Mao & Mo (1998); Hogg & Fruchter (1999)).

### 2.3 Electron energy fraction

Several characteristics of afterglow observations imply that the electron energy fraction $`\xi _e`$ is close to equipartition. For GRB 970508 afterglow data is detailed enough to determine $`\xi _e0.2`$ (Waxman 1997b ; Wijers & Galama (1999); Granot et al. (1999)). A similar conclusion can be drawn for GRB 971214. For this GRB, $`\nu _m4\times 10^{14}`$ Hz and $`f_m0.03`$ mJy have been observed at $`t=0.58`$ d (Ramaprakash et al. (1998)). Using Eqs. (2) and (3) this implies, for GRB 971214 redshift $`z=3.42`$ (Kulkarni et al. (1998)), $`\xi _e1(\xi _B/0.1)^{1/8}n_0^{1/8}`$. Thus, a value close to equipartition is implied by GRB 971214 observations (Wijers & Galama (1999) suggest a different interpretation of the GRB 971214 data, which also requires $`\xi _e1`$).

For most other bursts, afterglow observations are not sufficient for determining the value of $`\xi _e`$. However, $`\xi _e1/3`$ is consistent with all afterglow data, and is indeed commonly used in afterglow models attempting to account for observations. This is consistent with our hypothesis of universal $`\xi _e`$ value close to equipartition. Additional support for this hypothesis is provided by the following argument.

GRANAT/SIGMA observations of GRB 920723 (Burenin et al. (1999)) and BATSE observation of GRB 980923 (Giblin et al. 1999a ) show a continuous transition from GRB to afterglow phase in the hard X-ray range. It has also been shown for several BeppoSAX bursts that the 2–10 keV flux at the end of the GRB phase, on time scale of tens of seconds, is close to that obtained by extrapolating backward in time the X-ray afterglow flux (e.g. Costa et al. (1997); In ’t Zand (1998)). This suggests that the late GRB flux is in fact dominated by afterglow emission, i.e. by synchrotron emission from the shock driven into the ambient medium (see also Frontera et al. 1999a ). On minute time scale, the emission peaks at $`10`$ keV energies (Giblin et al. 1999a ; Frontera et al. 1999a ), implying $`\nu _m2.5\times 10^{18}`$ Hz at this time (note that this value is consistent with the $`\nu _m`$ values inferred at later time for GRB 970508 and GRB 971214). Using Eq. (3), we find that this in turn implies $`\xi _e0.4(\xi _B/0.1)^{1/4}E_{53}^{1/4}`$. Thus, a value of $`\xi _e`$ well below equipartition, $`3\xi _e1`$, would require $`E_{53}\xi _e^41`$, inconsistent with our conclusion that $`3\xi _eE_{53}1`$ (see Fig. 1).

## 3 Discussion and implications

We have shown that afterglow observations strongly suggest that the energy distribution of shock accelerated electrons is universal, given at high energy by a power-law $`dn_e/d\gamma _e\gamma _e^p`$ with $`p2.2`$ (§2.1), and that the energy fraction carried by electrons is also universal and close to equipartition, $`\xi _e1/3`$ (§2.3). Adopting the hypothesis that the value of $`p`$ is universal and close to 2, $`p2.2`$, we showed (§2.2) that a single measurement at time $`t`$ of X-ray afterglow flux provides, through Eq. (4), a robust estimate of the fireball electron energy per unit solid angle, $`\epsilon _e`$, over a conical section of the fireball of opening angle $`1/\mathrm{\Gamma }(t)`$, where $`\mathrm{\Gamma }(t)`$ is the fireball Lorentz factor. On day time scale $`\mathrm{\Gamma }10`$ \[see Eq. (6)\], and X-ray flux therefore provides a robust estimate of $`\epsilon _e`$ over an opening angle $`\theta 0.1`$. Adopting the hypothesis that $`\xi _e`$ is close to equipartition, the X-ray flux provides also a robust estimate of the total fireball energy per unit solid angle, $`\epsilon `$, over an opening angle $`\theta 0.1`$.

We emphasize here that the total (or electron) fireball energy estimates are not based on the total X-ray fluence. The X-ray fluence is dominated by the early time, $`t10`$ s, emission. Since at this time the fireball Lorentz factor is high, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }10^{2.5}`$, the total X-ray fluence provides information only on a small section of the fireball, $`\theta 10^{2.5}0.1`$. Moreover, using the X-ray fluence to derive constraints on fireball parameters using afterglow models is complicated since on $`10`$ s time scale the fireball is not in the self-similar expansion stage for which afterglow models apply, since GRB emission on this time scale is important and it is difficult to separate afterglow and main GRB contributions, and since the X-ray afterglow flux is not observed in the time interval of $`10^2`$ s to $`0.5`$ d, which implies that the total fluence depends strongly on the interpolation of X-ray flux over the time interval in which it is not measured.

It is also important to emphasize that while the X-ray flux is independent of the ambient density into which the fireball expands and very weakly dependent on the magnetic field energy fraction \[see Eq. (4)\], the optical flux detected on a time scale of a day is sensitive to both parameters, since the cooling frequency is close to the optical band on this time scale \[see Eq. (1)\]. Moreover, the optical flux may be significantly affected by extinction in the host galaxy. Thus, while the observed X-ray flux provides mainly information on intrinsic fireball parameters, the optical flux depends strongly on the fireball environment.

Our results for $`\epsilon `$ are presented in Table 2 and in Fig. 1, where $`\gamma `$-ray energy per unit solid angle, $`\epsilon _\gamma `$, is plotted as a function of fireball energy per unit solid angle, $`\epsilon `$. Several conclusion may be drawn based on the table and figure:

1. Fireball energies of observed GRBs are in the range of $`4\pi \epsilon =10^{51.5}`$ to $`10^{53.5}`$ erg.
2. $`\epsilon _\gamma `$ and $`\epsilon `$ are strongly correlated, with $`|\mathrm{log}_{10}(\epsilon _\gamma /\epsilon )|0.5`$. Thus, the most energetic bursts (i.e. those with highest isotropic $`\gamma `$-ray energy) represent much higher energy release from the sources.
3. Our results are inconsistent with models in which GRB $`\gamma `$-ray emission is produced by internal shocks with low efficiency (Panaitescu, Spada & Mészáros (1999); Kumar (1999); Kumar & Piran (1999)), $`\epsilon _\gamma /\epsilon <10^21`$ for electron energy equipartition $`\xi _e1/3`$ (and still lower efficiency for lower electron energy fraction). However, we believe this contradiction should not be considered strong evidence against internal shock models, since the low efficiency obtained in the analyses reflects mainly the underlying assumptions of the models regarding the variability of the wind produced by the source. In particular, if the typical ratio of Lorentz factors of adjacent fireball wind shells is large, rather than being of order unity as commonly assumed, the internal shock efficiency may be close to unity.
4. The strong correlation between $`\epsilon _\gamma `$ and $`\epsilon `$, and in particular the fact that values $`\epsilon _\gamma /\epsilon 1`$ are not obtained, implies that if fireballs are jets of finite opening angle $`\theta `$, then $`\theta `$ should satisfy $`\theta 0.1`$. This is due to the fact that for $`\theta 0.1`$ significant sideways expansion of the jet would occur well before X-ray afterglow observations, during which $`\mathrm{\Gamma }10`$, leading to $`\epsilon _\gamma /\epsilon 1`$. Our conclusion is similar to that obtained by Piro et al. (1999) based on a different argument (Piro et al. rely on analysis of the relation between X-ray afterglow spectral and temporal characteristics).
5. The fact that $`\epsilon _\gamma /\epsilon `$ values larger than unity, $`\epsilon _\gamma /\epsilon 3`$, are obtained for $`4\pi \epsilon _\gamma >10^{52}`$ erg, may suggest that the electron energy fraction in these cases is somewhat below equipartition ($`3\xi _e=1/3`$ can not be ruled out by our analysis), and/or that the fireball is a jet of opening angle $`\theta _j0.1`$, in which case some reduction of energy per solid angle at the X-ray observation time would be detectable. Note, that GRB 990123 and GRB 980519, for which evidence for a jet-like fireball exists and which are included in our analysis, are indeed in the group for which $`\epsilon _\gamma /\epsilon 3`$.
6. For low energy, $`4\pi \epsilon _\gamma <10^{52}`$ erg, bursts we find $`\epsilon _\gamma /\epsilon 1/3`$. This suggests that the $`\gamma `$-ray production efficiency of such bursts is lower than that of higher energy bursts. We note that, based on published GRB light curves, there is evidence that the lower energy, $`4\pi \epsilon _\gamma <10^{52}`$ erg, bursts are characterized by shorter durations of $`\gamma `$-ray emission, compared to that of $`4\pi \epsilon _\gamma >10^{52}`$ erg bursts. A more detailed analysis of light curves of all GRBs in our sample should be carried out to confirm or rule out such correlation.
7. While “low efficiency,” $`\epsilon _\gamma /\epsilon 1`$, bursts do not exist for fireball energy $`4\pi \epsilon >10^{52.5}`$ erg, $`\epsilon _\gamma /\epsilon 1`$ bursts (as suggested by Panaitescu, Spada & Mészáros (1999); Kumar (1999); Kumar & Piran (1999)) may exist for lower fireball energy, $`4\pi \epsilon <10^{52.5}`$ erg, as they would not have been detected by BeppoSAX (as indicated in Fig. 1).

Our analysis allows to determine the total fireball energy per unit solid angle averaged over an angle $`\theta 0.1`$. A determination of the total energy emitted from the source requires knowledge of the fireball opening angle. If typical opening angles are $`\theta 0.1`$, an angle suggested by the observed breaks in optical light curves and consistent with our results, the total energy emitted by the underlying GRB sources is in the range of $`10^{50}`$ erg to $`10^{51.5}`$ erg. The total energy may be two orders of magnitude higher, however, if emission from the source is close to spherical. X-ray observations on time scale $`1`$ d, during which $`\mathrm{\Gamma }10`$, will provide information on fireball properties averaged over larger opening angles and will therefore provide stronger constraints on the total energy associated with GRB explosions.

We thank J. N. Bahcall, D. A. Frail, A. Gruzinov, A. Loeb and B. Paczyński for useful comments on a previous version of this manuscript. DLF acknowledges support from the Karyn Kupcinet fund during her stay at the Weizmann Institute. EW is partially supported by BSF Grant 9800343, AEC Grant 38/99 and MINERVA Grant.