Prof. Eli Waxman, Weizmann Institute
Place: Holcblat
Time: Wednesday, 07/Jan/2004, 14:00
Title: "Radio afterglows and the GRB-SN association"
The identification of type Ib/c supernovae as GRB progenitors is motivated by the association of GRB980425 with SN1998bw and of GRB030329 with SN2003dh. Radio observations of "orphan" GRB afterglows may be the most useful tool for confirming this association and for identifying nearby GRB progenitors. Both the association of GRBs with type Ib/c supernovae and the usefulness of orphan radio afterglow observations are challenged, however, by the fact that the radio luminosity of SN1998bw was 3 orders of magnitude lower than expected for a typical GRB. Possible explanations of this discrepancy and their implications for the GRB-Ib/c SNe association and GRB radio observations will be discussed.