Testing the blast wave model with Swift GRBs

Abstract

The complex structure of the light curves of Swift GRBs (e.g. superimposed flares and shallow decay) has made their interpretation and that of the blast wave caused by the burst, more difficult than in the pre-Swift era. We aim to constrain the blast wave parameters: electron energy distribution, p, density profile of the circumburst medium, k, and the continued energy injection index, g. We do so by comparing the observed multi-wavelength light curves and X-ray spectra of a Swift sample to the predictions of the blast wave model.