Extracting energy from black holes: "long" and "short" GRBs and their astrophysical settings

Abstract

The introduction of the three interpretational paradigms for Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) and recent progress in understanding the X- and gamma ray luminosity in the afterglow allow us to make assessments about the astrophysical settings of GRBs. In particular, we evidence the distinct possibility that some GRBs occur in a binary system. This subclass of GRBs manifests itself in a "tryptich": one component formed by the collapse of a massive star to a black hole, which originates the GRB; a second component by a supernova and a third one by a young neutron star born in the supernova event. Similarly, the understanding of the physics of quantum relativistic processes during the gravitational collapse makes possible precise predictions about the structure of short GRBs.

8 pages, 2 figures, to appear in the Proceedings of "Gamma-Ray Burst in the Afterglow Era: 4th Workshop", held in Rome, October 18-22, 2004, L. Piro, L. Amati, S. Covino, B. Gendre (eds.), Il Nuovo Cimento C, in press