# GAMMA-RAY BURST ENVIRONMENTS AND PROGENITORS

## 1 INTRODUCTION

Although the study of GRBs (gamma-ray bursts) has been revolutionized in the past few years by finding a number of precise positions and distances, the nature of their progenitor objects remains uncertain (see Mészáros 1999 for a review). The production of a large amount of energy in a short time has naturally led to models involving compact objects (neutron stars and black holes). Fryer, Woosley, & Hartmann (1999) have summarized possible progenitors involving black hole accretion disks: neutron star - neutron star binary mergers (NS/NS), black hole - neutron star mergers (BH/NS), black hole - white dwarf mergers (BH/WD), massive star core collapses, and black hole - helium star mergers (BH/He). Based on estimated formation rates and on accretion disk models with high viscous forces, Fryer et al. (1999) suggest that NS/NS and BH/NS mergers dominate the population of short-duration GRBs and that massive stars and BH/He mergers dominate the long-duration bursts. The afterglows observed to date would have massive star progenitors in this scenario because they followed long-duration bursts.

One way of distinguishing between the progenitor models is to examine the position of the GRB in the parent galaxy. Paczyński (1998) pointed out that NS/NS binaries would be expected to have a significant space velocity, which would carry them many kpc from their birthplaces. The observational evidence for the association of several GRBs with star forming regions then provided weak evidence against the NS/NS merger progenitors and favored massive star progenitors. The population synthesis calculations of Fryer et al. (1999) supported this conclusion. However, Bloom, Sigurdsson, & Pols (1999a) found a time to NS/NS merger of $`10^8`$ years. These objects would then follow the star formation rate, although $`15`$% of them might occur well outside of dwarf galaxy hosts.

The connection of GRBs to massive stars became stronger with the discovery of the Type Ic supernova SN 1998bw in the error box of GRB 980425 (Galama et al. 1998). The high energy inferred for the optical supernova, $`(23)\times 10^{52}`$ ergs (Iwamoto et al. 1998; Woosley, Eastman, & Schmidt 1999), and the high expansion velocity inferred for the radio supernova (Kulkarni et al. 1998) strengthen the GRB connection. Li & Chevalier (1999) found that the evolution of the radio source indicated non-uniform energy input to the blast wave, as is also inferred in GRBs. They also found evidence that the radio SN 1998bw interacted with the stellar wind expected from the massive star progenitor. In this paper, we emphasize that a stellar wind environment is an unavoidable consequence of a massive star progenitor and that the nature of the GRB afterglow emission can provide a discriminant between massive star and compact binary progenitor models. In § 2, we discuss the expected afterglow for a massive star progenitor model and in § 3 place our models in the context of observations. Our discussion concentrates on the cases $`s=2`$ (stellar wind) and $`s=0`$ (interstellar medium), where the ambient medium has $`\rho r^s`$.

## 2 AFTERGLOWS IN A MASSIVE STAR WIND

In the existing massive star GRB progenitor models, the most likely progenitor is the stripped core of a massive star, i.e., a Wolf-Rayet star. MacFadyen & Woosley (1999) consider single massive stars whose cores directly collapse to black holes. The stars have an initial mass $`>25M_{}`$, which is the type of star that is likely to lose its H envelope in winds. Paczyński (1998) noted that the requirement of a rapidly rotating core might necessitate a close binary companion, which again points to Wolf-Rayet stars. The winds from these stars in our Galaxy have velocities of $`1,0002,500\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ and mass loss rates $`\dot{M}10^510^4M_{}\mathrm{yr}^1`$ (Willis 1991). On evolutionary grounds, Langer (1989) advocated $`\dot{M}6\times 10^8(M_{\mathrm{WR}}/M_{})^{2.5}M_{}\mathrm{yr}^1`$, where $`M_{\mathrm{WR}}`$ is the mass of the Wolf-Rayet star. If the stellar mass drops to $`3M_{}`$ at the end of its life because of mass loss, $`\dot{M}10^6M_{}\mathrm{yr}^1`$ at that time. The host galaxies of GRBs are likely to be of low metallicity. Willis (1991) notes that there is no evidence for a metallicity dependence of mass loss from a particular type of Wolf-Rayet star, but that metallicity may affect the distribution of Wolf-Rayet types.

The effects of Wolf-Rayet winds can be observed in the wind bubbles around some of these objects. In some cases where the bubble is well-studied, the bubble expansion and X-ray emission are consistent with a weaker wind than that inferred from direct observations of the Wolf-Rayet star (e.g., NGC 6888, García-Segura & Mac Low 1995). The position of the wind termination shock, $`r_t`$, can be estimated by equating the ram pressure in the wind with the pressure in the bubble. We estimate $`r_t/R_b(2R_b/v_wt_w)^{1/2}`$, where $`R_b`$ is the radius of the wind bubble and $`t_w`$ is its age. For $`R_b=3`$ pc, $`t_w=2\times 10^4`$ yr, and $`v_w=1,000\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$, we have $`r_t5\times 10^{18}`$ cm. At $`r_t`$, the density increases by a factor of 4 and becomes approximately constant at larger radius. The radius $`r_t`$ is expected to increase as the bubble evolves and its pressure drops. At the end of its life, a Wolf-Rayet star is thus expected to be surrounded by a substantial $`\rho r^2`$ medium. The radio observations of Type Ib/c supernovae can be interpreted as interactions with such a medium in models with constant efficiencies of production of relativistic electrons and magnetic fields (Weiler et al. 1999; Chevalier 1998).

For the wind density, we take $`\rho =Ar^2`$, where $`A=\dot{M}/4\pi v_w=5\times 10^{11}A_{}`$ g cm<sup>-1</sup>. The reference value of $`A`$ corresponds to $`\dot{M}=1\times 10^5M_{}\mathrm{yr}^1`$ and $`v_w=1000\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$. If a burst were able to occur in a red supergiant star, the low wind velocity, $`v_w10\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$, would lead to a higher circumstellar density because $`\dot{M}>10^7M_{}\mathrm{yr}^1`$ up to $`10^4M_{}\mathrm{yr}^1`$ is expected. The only supernova case where we have inferred a lower circumstellar density is around SN 1987A, which exploded as a B3 I star and was thus too cool to drive a strong wind with its ultraviolet radiation field. In this case, the $`r^2`$ wind terminated at $`(34)\times 10^{17}`$ cm and the supernova radio flux rose sharply when the shock front encountered denser gas (Ball et al. 1995; Chevalier 1998).

The scaling laws that are appropriate for GRB interaction with an $`s=2`$ medium have been described by Mészáros, Rees, & Wijers (1998) and by Panaitescu, Mészáros, & Rees (1998). Our aim here is to examine the specific predictions for interaction with a Wolf-Rayet star wind. We calculate the expected emission for a thin shell model (cf. Li & Chevalier 1999). We adopt a nucleon-to-electron number density ratio of two, which is appropriate for winds of Wolf-Rayet stars that are predominantly helium (and perhaps carbon/oxygen). For the mass loss case, a density of $`1.67\times 10^{24}\mathrm{g}\mathrm{cm}^3`$ is attained at $`r5.5\times 10^{17}A_{}^{1/2}`$ cm. For an adiabatic blast wave in an $`s=2`$ medium (Blandford & McKee 1976), we find $`\gamma ^2=R/4ct`$ and $`R=(9Et/4\pi Ac)^{1/2}=2.0\times 10^{17}E_{52}^{1/2}A_{}^{1/2}t_{\mathrm{day}}^{1/2}`$ cm, where $`\gamma `$ is the Lorentz factor of the gas, $`R`$ is the observed radius near the line of sight, $`E_{52}=E/10^{52}`$ ergs is the explosion energy, and $`t=t_{\mathrm{day}}\mathrm{day}`$ is the time in the observer’s frame. Over the typical time of observation of a GRB afterglow, the shock front is expected to be within the $`s=2`$ wind, except for the unusual case of a progenitor like that of SN 1987A.

In our model, the synchrotron emission frequency of the lowest energy electrons is

$$\nu _m=5\times 10^{12}\left(\frac{1+z}{2}\right)^{1/2}(ϵ_e/0.1)^2(ϵ_B/0.1)^{1/2}E_{52}^{1/2}t_{\mathrm{day}}^{3/2}\mathrm{Hz},$$
(1)   
and the flux at this frequency is

$$F_{\nu _m}=20\left(\frac{\sqrt{1+z}1}{\sqrt{2}1}\right)^2\left(\frac{1+z}{2}\right)^{1/2}(ϵ_B/0.1)^{1/2}E_{52}^{1/2}A_{}t_{\mathrm{day}}^{1/2}\mathrm{mJy},$$
(2)   
where $`z`$ is the redshift, and $`ϵ_e`$ and $`ϵ_B`$ are the electron and magnetic postshock energy fractions. These expressions assume a flat universe with $`H_o=65`$ km s<sup>-1</sup> Mpc<sup>-1</sup>. As in discussions of afterglows in the ISM, the magnetic field is assumed to be amplified by processes in the shocked region and is not directly determined by the field in the Wolf-Rayet star wind. For electrons with a power law energy distribution above $`\gamma _{em}`$, $`dN_e/d\gamma _e\gamma _e^p`$, the flux above $`\nu _m`$ is $`F_\nu =F_{\nu _m}(\nu /\nu _m)^{(p1)/2}ϵ_e^{p1}ϵ_B^{(p+1)/4}E^{(p+1)/4}At^{(3p1)/4}\nu ^{(p1)/2}`$, provided the electrons are not radiative. $`F_\nu =F_{\nu _m}(\nu /\nu _m)^{1/3}`$ below $`\nu _m`$ until the spectrum turns over due to synchrotron self-absorption at

$$\nu _A1\times 10^{11}\left(\frac{1+z}{2}\right)^{2/5}(ϵ_e/0.1)^1(ϵ_B/0.1)^{1/5}E_{52}^{2/5}A_{}^{6/5}t_{\mathrm{day}}^{3/5}\mathrm{Hz}.$$
(3)   
We estimate the effects of synchrotron cooling following the discussions of Sari, Piran, & Narayan (1998) and Wijers & Galama (1999) for the $`s=0`$ case. Radiative cooling becomes important at a frequency

$$\nu _c1\times 10^{12}\left(\frac{1+z}{2}\right)^{3/2}(ϵ_B/0.1)^{3/2}E_{52}^{1/2}A_{}^2t_{\mathrm{day}}^{1/2}\mathrm{Hz},$$
(4)   
provided $`\nu _c>\nu _m`$. For $`\nu >\nu _c`$, $`F_\nu ϵ_e^{p1}ϵ_B^{(p2)/4}E^{(p+2)/4}t^{(3p2)/4}\nu ^{p/2}`$.

These results can be compared to similar results for interaction with a constant density interstellar medium with $`n_o1`$ cm<sup>-3</sup> (e.g., Waxman 1997; Sari et al. 1998). In that case $`F_{\nu _m}`$ is constant with time, $`\nu _m`$ is comparable to the value given above, $`\nu _A`$ is independent of time, and $`\nu _c`$ decreases with time. If $`\nu _A`$, $`\nu _m`$, and $`\nu _c`$ have the same relation to each other in the $`s=0`$ and $`s=2`$ cases, the appearance of the spectrum at one time is similar for both cases, but the evolution is different. At high frequency (optical and X-ray), for $`s=0`$ the flux evolution goes from adiabatic ($`t^{(3p3)/4}`$) to cooling ($`t^{(3p2)/4}`$) while for $`s=2`$ the flux evolution goes from cooling ($`t^{(3p2)/4}`$) to adiabatic ($`t^{(3p1)/4}`$). While cooling, the two cases have the same spectrum and flux decline. At low frequency (radio) with $`\nu <\nu _m`$, the flux evolves as $`t^{1/2}`$ for $`s=0`$, but can make a transition from $`t`$ to constant for $`s=2`$.

## 3 COMPARISON WITH OBSERVATIONS

We have noted the evidence that SN 1998bw is interacting with a circumstellar wind (Li & Chevalier 1999), and here discuss the cosmological GRBs. The more detailed models that have been developed for comparison with the best observed GRB afterglows have taken a low, constant density surrounding medium as the starting point. For GRB 970508, Wijers & Galama (1999) and Granot, Piran, & Sari (1999) found $`n_o=0.030,5.3`$ cm<sup>-3</sup>, $`E_{52}=3.5,0.53`$, $`ϵ_e=0.12,0.57`$, and $`ϵ_B=0.089,0.0082`$, respectively. The difference between these results reflects, in part, the difficulty of accurately determining the significant frequencies, such as $`\nu _A`$. The low density found for this case is indicative of an interstellar density. However, these models primarily depend on the spectrum at one time, which can be the same for the $`s=0`$ and $`s=2`$ cases. Panaitescu et al. (1998) have presented a successful $`s=0`$ model for the evolution of GRB 970508, but a number of deviations from the simple model are included, so the case is not clear.

With $`s=0`$, the optically thin, adiabatic flux evolution can be described by $`F_\nu t^\alpha \nu ^\beta `$ with $`\alpha =1.5\beta `$. This type of evolution was observed in the afterglow of GRB 970228 (Wijers, Rees, & Mészáros 1997). For $`s=2`$, the expected power law evolution has $`\alpha =(3\beta 1)/2`$ for a constant energy blast wave, so a mechanism must be found to flatten the time evolution if this GRB evolved in a circumstellar wind. The effects of beaming and a change to nonrelativistic flow steepen the time evolution, but continued power input from ejecta can flatten it. This effect is inferred to occur in radio supernovae (Chevalier 1998). Following Rees & Mészáros (1998) for the $`s=0`$ case with power input from ejecta with a mass gradient $`M(>\mathrm{\Gamma }_f)\mathrm{\Gamma }_f^n`$ where $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_f`$ is the Lorentz factor in the freely expanding ejecta, the evolution follows $`F_\nu t^{[2\beta (n+6)]/(n+4)}`$ for the $`s=2`$ case. For $`\beta =0.75`$, the property $`\alpha =1.5\beta `$ is recovered when $`n=5.33`$. The optically thin, $`\nu >\nu _m`$ evolution would then be the same as in the constant density ($`s=0`$) case, but other aspects of the evolution would be different. In particular, the expansion would be much less decelerated and the apparent radius of the blast $`rt^{(n+2)/(n+4)}t^{0.79}`$ and its Lorentz factor $`\gamma t^{1/(n+4)}t^{0.11}`$. At optically thick wavelengths, the flux would increase as $`F_\nu t^{1.57}`$ as opposed to $`F_\nu t^{1/2}`$ for the constant density case. Radio observations could distinguish this kind of evolution, but GRB 970228 was not detected in the radio.

Kulkarni et al. (1999) noted that the afterglow of GRB 990123 was consistent with $`p=2.44`$ in a $`s=0`$ model, where $`p`$ is the electron energy spectral index. The optical emission declined with $`\alpha =1.10\pm 0.03`$, suggesting adiabatic evolution, while the X-rays declined with $`\alpha =1.44\pm 0.07`$, suggesting cooling evolution. The faster decline at X-ray wavelengths is distinctive of $`s=0`$ evolution and is the opposite of expectations for $`s=2`$. Most of the well observed optical afterglows also have $`\alpha `$ in the range –1.1 to –1.3, which is plausibly modeled by blast wave evolution in a constant density medium. However, the possibilities of flat electron spectra or cooling evolution do not allow $`s=2`$ models to generally be ruled out.

An afterglow with a steep decline was that of GRB 980519. Its optical emission followed $`F_\nu t^{(2.05\pm 0.04)}`$, which, with the observed $`\beta =1.05\pm 0.10`$ for optical and X-ray data, is consistent with expansion in an $`s=2`$ medium (Halpern et al. 1999). The steep decline might be the result of beaming (Halpern et al. 1999; Sari, Piran, & Halpern 1999) instead of interaction with a wind. One way of distinguishing the wind interaction case is to observe the optically thick radio flux rise, $`F_\nu t`$ for a wind as opposed to $`F_\nu t^{1/2}`$ for a constant density. The effect of beaming in the $`s=0`$ case is to decrease the expansion and thus to increase the difference between the models. Radio observations of GRB 980519 were made at ages 0.3, 1.1, and 2.8 days at 8.3 GHz (Frail et al. 1998). Fig. 1 shows that an $`s=2`$ model is capable of fitting the radio, as well as the optical and X-ray, data.

The model light curves in Fig. 1 are obtained using the synchrotron self-absorption model of Li & Chevalier (1999). The model takes into account the dynamical evolution of a spherical, constant-energy blast wave in a pre-burst $`s=2`$ stellar wind, relativistic effects on radiation, and synchrotron self-absorption. The distance to GRB 980519 is unknown, so we take a fiducial value of $`z=1`$. Adopting a relatively low magnetic energy fraction of $`ϵ_B=10^5`$, we find that the following combination of parameters fits all available data reasonably well: $`E_{52}=0.54`$, $`ϵ_e=0.62`$, $`p=3`$, and $`A_{}=4.3`$. Rough scalings of these parameters for other choices of $`ϵ_B`$ are given in Li & Chevalier (1999). The value of $`p`$ is higher than that normally found in GRB afterglows, but is within the range found in radio supernovae (Chevalier 1998 and references therein). The model shown in Fig. 1 does not include synchrotron cooling. The good fit to the X-ray data is then expected because the spectral index joining optical and X-ray emission, $`\beta =1.05\pm 0.10`$ (Halpern et al. 1999), is consistent with the separate optical and X-ray indices. From eq. (4) and the parameters for GRB 980519 given above, we have $`\nu _c4\times 10^{16}`$ Hz for $`t_{\mathrm{day}}=1`$, which is below the X-ray frequency (3 keV = $`7\times 10^{17}`$ Hz). We consider the agreement adequate in view of the expected gradual turnover in flux and the observational and theoretical uncertainty in the value of $`\nu _c`$. The model does require a low value of $`ϵ_B`$, as has also been inferred in a number of other afterglows (Galama et al. 1999).

The model R-band flux densities on days 60 and 66 of Fig. 1 fall short of the observed values by nearly two orders of magnitude; the emission on these two days is presumed to come from the host galaxy of the burst (Sokolov et al. 1998; Bloom et al. 1998a). However, the observed flux densities on days 60 and 66 are close to those expected of SN 1998bw at a cosmological distance of $`z=1`$ (see Fig. 1). Despite excellent seeing conditions at Keck II, Bloom et al. (1998a) found little evidence for the extension expected of a host galaxy, so the presence of a SN 1998bw-type supernova is possible. Observations of the source at later times than have been reported should be able to confirm or reject this possibility.

Another burst with a relatively steep decline with time is GRB 980326, in which the optical $`F_\nu t^{2.10\pm 0.13}`$ (Groot et al. 1998). There is no radio data for this object, but the last optical observation is a factor $`10`$ above the power law decline; this is not the host galaxy because it is not present at a later time (Bloom & Kulkarni 1998). A possible source for the emission is a supernova (Bloom et al. 1999b), as in the case of GRB 980519. Such an event would be consistent with expansion into a wind and the explosion of a massive star. Bloom et al. (1999b) found that the spectrum of the late time source is consistent with that of a supernova, which rules out the possibility of a rise in the nonthermal afterglow emission as observed in GRB 970508 (Panaitescu et al. 1998) and the radio emission from SN 1998bw (Kulkarni et al. 1998; Li & Chevalier 1999).

Based on the discovery of the SN 1998bw/GRB 980425 association, Bloom et al. (1998b) proposed a subclass of GRBs produced by supernovae (S-GRBs). We also place SN 1998bw in a supernova class of GRB, but with different properties from those of Bloom et al. (1998b). By supernova, we mean an observed event with an optical light curve and spectrum similar to that of a Type I or Type II supernova. In our picture, the GRB 990123 is an example of a GRB interacting with the ISM (interstellar medium). The similar (slow) rates of decline observed in other GRB afterglows suggests that this type of object is the most common. These objects are not interacting with winds, do not have massive star progenitors, and are not accompanied by supernovae. Plausible progenitors are the mergers of compact objects. The GRBs in the wind type are interacting with winds, have massive star progenitors, and are accompanied by supernovae. SN 1998bw/GRB 980425 is the best example of this class of object. GRB 980519 and GRB 980326 are other possible members. Bloom et al. (1998b) propose that S-GRBs have no long-lived X-ray afterglow because of synchrotron losses. We suggest that X-ray afterglows are possible, although with steeper time evolution than in the ISM case, provided $`ϵ_B`$ is small, as is also inferred for some of the ISM type afterglows. Bloom et al. further propose that S-GRBs have single pulse GRB profiles. We have found evidence for nonuniform energy input in SN 1998bw/GRB 980425 (Li & Chevalier 1999) and suggest that both types of bursts are powered by central engines with irregular power output. The GRB itself may not allow a classification of the event; the two cosmological GRBs mentioned as possible members of the wind class have multiple peak time structure (in ’t Zand et al. 1999; Groot et al. 1998).

We are grateful to J. Bloom, S. Kulkarni, and an anonymous referee for useful comments and information. Support for this work was provided in part by NASA grant NAG5-8232.