The Afterglow Modeling Project and Gamma-Ray Burst-Associated Type Ic Supernovae (2013)

Undergraduates: H. Thankful Cromartie, Dr. Dan Reichart, Dr. Adam Trotter

Faculty Advisor: Daniel Reichart
Department: Physics & Astronomy

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The Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) Afterglow Modeling Project (AMP) will model every GRB afterglow observed since the first detection in 1997 using all available observational data. The result will be a catalog of fitted empirical model parameters describing the intrinsic afterglow emission, and extinction due to dust and absorption due to gas along the line of sight to each GRB. This ever-growing catalog of fitted model parameters will allow us to infer the astrophysical properties of GRBs and their environments, and to explore their variety and evolution over the Universe¿s history. Though GRBs are well sampled and studied, relatively little is known about the supernovae (SNe) coincident with these events that, in many cases, contribute significantly to the observed afterglow flux. Among the canonical GRB-SNe events are the type Ic SNe 1998bw and 2006aj, both of which occurred at low redshifts (z = 0.0087 and 0.033, respectively), and both of whose light curves were well sampled in time and frequency. We present empirical spectral and temporal models fit to optical and NIR photometric observations of these two SNe using our highly flexible genetic algorithm software, Galapagos. The resulting empirical model will be applied more generally in modeling SNe components of GRB afterglows at a wider range of redshifts.