A detailed study of Gamma-Ray Burst afterglows

• Applicant: Privatdozent Dr. Sylvio Klose, since 7/2016
• Subject Area: Astrophysics and Astronomy
• Term: from 2009 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 114277445

Gamma-Ray Bursts are the most luminous electromagnetic phenomena in the universe, possibly related to the formation of stellar-mass black holes in remote galaxies that are triggered either by the gravitational collapse of massive stars or the merger of compact stellar objects. The bursts are followed by the afterglows. Here, we apply for an extension of our original proposal aimed to a detailed study of the early phases of the afterglows using the GROND camera mounted at the MPG 2.2m telescope on La Silla, Chile.GROND stands for Gamma-Ray Burst Optical Near-Infrared Detector. It is an instrument project of the Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik (Garching) in collaboration with the Thüringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg (TLS). After seven years of designing and manufacturing, altogether 50 man years of intensive work, and 1.5 million Euro hardware costs, GROND is in operation on La Silla since mid 2007. GROND allows us, for the very first time, to observe in seven photometric bands simultaneously (Sloan g', r', i', z', and J, H, Ks). GROND is operated in Rapid Response Mode so that afterglow data are available starting within 2 to 5 min after a burst trigger.The goal of the present (improved and updated) renewal proposal concentrates on five key questions in GRB afterglow research which all have the potential to be answered by GROND's multi-channel imaging capabilities. These refer to the (1) the neutron star merger-related short bursts, (2) the structure and composition of the GRB environment in their host galaxies, (3) the supernovae following long bursts, (4) the geometry, composition, and energetics of these ultra-relativistic outflows, and (5) the elusive high-z bursts. The workhorse to achieve these goals is GROND, supplemented by VLT spectroscopy, radio and submm observations as well as numerical modeling of afterglows.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Participating Person: Privatdozent Dr. Jochen Greiner
• Ehemaliger Antragsteller: Dr. Arne Rau, until 7/2016