On the nature of GRB 050509b: a disguised short GRB

¹ Dipartimento di Fisica and ICRAUniversità di Roma “La Sapienza”, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Roma, Italy
e-mail: maria.bernardini@icra.it; bianco@icra.it; letizia.caito@icra.it; luca.izzo@icra.it; ruffini@icra.it;
² ICRANet, Piazzale della Repubblica 10, 65122 Pescara, Italy
e-mail: gustavo.debarros@icranet.org; barbara.patricelli@icranet.org
³ Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) – IASF Bologna, via P. Gobetti 101, 40129 Bologna, Italy
e-mail: amati@iasfbo.inaf.it
⁴ Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) – Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera, via Emilio Bianchi 46, 23807 Merate (LC), Italy
⁵ ICRANet, Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis, Grand Château, BP 2135, 28 avenue de Valrose, 06103 Nice Cedex 2, France

Received: 4 February 2011
Accepted: 7 March 2011

Abstract

Context. GRB 050509b, detected by the Swift satellite, is the first case where an X-ray afterglow has been observed associated with a short gamma-ray burst (GRB). Within the fireshell model, the canonical GRB light curve presents two different components: the proper-GRB (P-GRB) and the extended afterglow. Their relative intensity is a function of the fireshell baryon loading parameter B and of the CircumBurst Medium (CBM) density (n_CBM). In particular, the traditionally called short GRBs can be either “genuine” short GRBs (with B ≲ 10^-5, where the P-GRB is energetically predominant) or “disguised” short GRBs (with B ≳ 3.0 × 10^-4 and n_CBM ≪ 1, where the extended afterglow is energetically predominant).

Aims. We verify whether GRB 050509b can be classified as a “genuine” short or a “disguised” short GRB, in the fireshell model.

Methods. We investigate two alternative scenarios. In the first, we start from the assumption that this GRB is a “genuine” short burst. In the second attempt, we assume that this GRB is a “disguised” burst.

Results. If GRB 050509b were a genuine short GRB, there should initially be very hard emission, which is ruled out by the observations. The analysis that assumes that this is a disguised short GRB is compatible with the observations. The theoretical model predicts a value of the extended afterglow energy peak that is consistent with the Amati relation.

Conclusions. GRB 050509b cannot be classified as a “genuine” short GRB. The observational data are consistent with a “disguised” short GRB classification, i.e., a long burst with a weak extended afterglow “deflated” by the low density of the CBM. We expect that all short GRBs with measured redshifts are disguised short GRBs because of a selection effect: if there is enough energy in the afterglow to measure the redshift, then the proper GRB must be less energetic than the afterglow. The Amati relation is found to be fulfilled only by the extended afterglow excluding the P-GRB.