Optical and Long Wavelength Afterglow from Gamma-Ray Bursts

Abstract

We discuss the evolution of cosmological gamma-ray burst remnants, consisting of the cooling and expanding fireball ejecta together with any swept-up external matter, after the gamma-ray event. We show that significant optical emission is predicted which should be measurable for timescales of hours after the event, and in some cases radio emission may be expected days to weeks after the event. The flux at optical, X-ray and other long wavelengths decays as a power of time, and the initial value of the flux or magnitude, as well as the value of the time-decay exponent, should help to distinguish between possible types of dissipative fireball models.