Early Thermal X-ray Emission from Long Gamma-ray Bursts and Their Circumstellar Environments

Abstract

We performed a series of hydrodynamical calculations of an ultra-relativistic jet propagating through a massive star and the circumstellar matter to investigate the interaction between the ejecta and the circumstellar matter. We succeed in distinguishing two qualitatively different cases in which the ejecta are shocked and adiabatically cool. To examine whether the cocoon expanding at subrelativistic speeds emits any observable signal, we calculate expected photospheric emission from the cocoon. It is found that the emission can explain early thermal X-ray emission recently found in some long gamma-ray bursts. The result implies that the difference of the circumstellar environment of long gamma-ray bursts can be probed by observing their early thermal X-ray emission.