Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 5, 2026

Method for Recording Broadband High Resolution Emission Spectra of Laboratory Lightning Arcs
Published on: August 27, 2019
The first pulse of the extremely bright GRB 130427A: a test lab for synchrotron shocks
R Preece1, J Michael Burgess, A von Kienlin
1Department of Space Science, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL 35899, USA.
Abstract:
Gamma-ray burst (GRB) 130427A is one of the most energetic GRBs ever observed. The initial pulse up to 2.5 seconds is possibly the brightest well-isolated pulse observed to date. A fine time resolution spectral analysis shows power-law decays of the peak energy from the onset of the pulse, consistent with models of internal synchrotron shock pulses. However, a strongly correlated power-law behavior is observed between the luminosity and the spectral peak energy that is inconsistent with curvature effects arising in the relativistic outflow. It is difficult for any of the existing models to account for all of the observed spectral and temporal behaviors simultaneously.
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