Spectral Shapes of Pair Annihilation Line Emission in Magnetar Giant Flares

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Authors: Tomoki Wada, Shigeo S. Kimura
Cited by: 0

Abstract

We investigate the gamma-ray spectrum in the MeV range arising from electron-positron pair annihilation in fireballs associated with magnetar giant flares (MGFs), motivated by the recent observation of a MeV gamma-ray line feature in a bright gamma-ray burst, GRB~221009A. We develop an analytic model of line emission, demonstrating that relativistic beaming results in a broadened, power-law spectral feature with photon index -1. We then perform Monte Carlo radiative transfer simulations incorporating electron-positron pair production, annihilation, and Compton scattering. The dependence of the emergent spectrum on the baryon loading is also examined, showing that a baryon-poor fireball is more favorable for the detection of MeV gamma rays. We further assess the detectability of the line component. The simulation results indicate that a power-law MeV component from the initial spike of a Galactic MGFs could be observed with current instruments, such as Fermi/GBM, and will be well within the reach of upcoming MeV gamma-ray satellites, which are expected to detect O(100) photons from such events.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations

Publication details

Journal / source
arXiv (Cornell University)
Publication date
2 January 2026
Document type
Preprint