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Gamma-ray bursts from nearby neutron stars

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Abstract

We interpret the puzzlingγ-ray bursts as emitted by cooling sparks from the surface of spasmodically accreting, old neutron stars. Their spiky, anisotropic radiation is oriented w.r.t. the galactic disk via interstellar accretion, whose orbital angular momentum tends to counteralign with the galactic spin; in this way, larger source numbers in directions of the galactic disk are compensated by smaller beaming probabilities, resulting in a near-isotropic arrival distribution, as observed by BATSE. The source distances range between 10 pc and 500 pc. Their radiated energies are of order 1035 erg, corresponding to accreted clumps (blades) of typical mass 1015 g per burst. Magnetic surface field strengths range between 1010 and 1012 G, somewhat weaker than those of newborn neutron stars.

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  1. Institut für Astrophysik der Universität Bonn, Bonn, Germany

    Wolfgang Kundt & Hsiang-Kuang Chang

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  1. Wolfgang Kundt
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  2. Hsiang-Kuang Chang
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Kundt, W., Chang, HK. Gamma-ray bursts from nearby neutron stars. Astrophys Space Sci 200, 151–162 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00658118

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00658118

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