AN INTRINSIC CORRELATION BETWEEN GRB OPTICAL/UV AFTERGLOW BRIGHTNESS AND DECAY RATE

Abstract

We examine 48 Swift/UVOT long Gamma-ray Burst light curves and find a correlation between the logarithmic luminosity at 200 s and average decay rate determined from 200 s onwards, with a Spearman rank coefficient of -0.58 at a significance of 99.998% (4.2 sigma). We determine the log L-200s - alpha(>200s) correlation to be intrinsic and discuss two possible causes: there is a property of the central engine, outflow or external medium that effects the rate of energy release so that the bright afterglows release their energy more quickly and decay faster than the fainter afterglows; alternatively, the observers viewing angle may produce the correlation, with observers at large viewing angles observing fainter and slower decaying light curves.