Abstract
RECENT observations with the BATSE instrument on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory show that the distribution of γ-ray bursts is isotropic but radially non-uniform1. Spectral features, time histories and the presence of X-ray tails suggest that the bursts arise from galactic neutron stars2, but low-velocity neutron stars born in the galactic disk would be concentrated towards the galactic plane3,4, which would not fit the BATSE results. Neutron stars born with velocities greater than ∼800 km s−1 will, however, escape from the Galaxy's gravitational field. We show here that a population of such objects can fit the γ-ray burst distributions found by BATSE and also the Pioneer Venus Orbiter5, although two important conditions must be met: the high-velocity neutron stars should turn on as burst sources only after some time (perhaps after they have ceased to be radiopulsars), and the low-velocity neutron stars must rarely generate γ-ray bursts. The observed correlation6–8 in pulsars between magnetic moment and velocity may provide a physical cause for the difference in bursting properties between the two populations. Our model implies that the brightest bursts, with fluxes ≳3 × 10−5 erg cm−2s−1, will be anisotropically distributed.
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Li, H., Dermer, C. Gamma-ray bursts from high-velocity neutron stars. Nature 359, 514–516 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1038/359514a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/359514a0
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