The puzzling clustering and bimodality of long GRBs optical afterglow luminosities

Abstract

The study of the rest frame properties of long Gamma-Ray bursts (GRBs) afterglows is a fundamental aspect for a better understanding of the nature of these powerful explosions. The launch of the Swift satellite (November 2004) marked a strong improvement of the observational capabilities of X-rays and optical afterglows. We studied the intrinsic optical afterglows of a sample of long GRBs finding an unexpected clustering and a hint of bimodality of the optical luminosity distribution (at 12h after the trigger). Through a Montecarlo simulation we proved that both the observed clustering and bimodality are not simply due to selection effects but should hide important information in the understanding of the nature of the afterglow emission. These findings can shed also light on the nature of the large fraction of optically dark GRBs.